H. E. Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
Administration of the President
Staraya Sq. 4
103132, Moscow
Russian Federation

Fax: + 7 (095) 206 51 73 / 206 07 66 / 206 35 66

Vienna, 19 July 2004

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, strongly condemns the murder of Payl Peloyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian-language Armyanski Pereulok (Armenian Lane), an arts and literature magazine serving the Armenian community in Moscow.

Peloyan’s body was found on 17 July at the side of the MKAD ringroad that circles Moscow. His body bore knife wounds to his chest and signs of beating on his head and face. The police did not rule out the possibility that his murder was linked to his work as a journalist.

Peloyan’s murder comes shortly after the brutal murder of Forbes magazine editor-in-chief Paul Khlebnikov. IPI views this incident as further proof of increasingly dangerous times for journalists in Russia and believes that the media must be allowed to practice their profession free of intimidation and harassment. If the voice of the media is not to be lost then the government must do everything possible to ensure that journalists are allowed to practice their profession free of violence and intimidation.

IPI strongly condemns the murder of Peloyan and calls on Your Excellency to ensure that there is an immediate and thorough investigation and that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director

Background Note:
Russia was placed on the IPI Watch List on 23 June 2000. In its Open Letter to President Putin IPI said, “Despite initial comments by Your Excellency that freedom of the press would be encouraged, IPI believes that Your Excellency’s words have not been matched by firm deeds… The deterioration in press freedom has manifested itself in a series of disturbing incidents including threats to block the renewal of licenses, the government’s attempts to replace independent journalists with obedient political appointees and plans to require licensing of newspapers.”