His Excellency Mr. Boris Yeltsin
President
Moscow
Russian Federation
Vienna, 28 November 1994
Your Excellency,
Over 40 days has passed since Dmitri Kholodov, a journalist working for Moscow’s most popular daily newspaper Moscovski Komsomolets, was killed in a bomb blast.
Mr. Kholodov , who had been investigating mafia connections with officers in the Western Army Group, was killed on 17 October 1994 when a briefcase he had been given by a contact exploded as he opened it in the paper’s newsroom. Another journalist, Katya Deyeva, was injured in the blast.
Mr. Kholodov, a well-known defender of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, promoted the active participation of journalists in the transition process underway in Russian society. His tragic death is a serious threat to democracy in your country and a challenge to the world’s media community.
IPI, representing publishers, editors-in-chief and leading journalists from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 89 countries, is deeply concerned that investigators have been unable to find Mr. Kholodov’s killers, despite promises of a full investigation under your Excellency’s personal control. We therefore urge you to ensure that efforts to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death are intensified and that those responsible for this hideous crime are brought to justice. We further ask that you ensure the right of all journalists in Russia to pursuer their work safely.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director