H.E. Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
The Kremlin
Moscow
Russian Federation
Fax: + 7 095 206 51 73
Vienna, 4 March 2004
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, is seriously concerned about the harassment of Rebecca Santana, Moscow correspondent for Cox Newspapers, and the detention of her driver and fixer, Ruslan Soltakhanov.
According to information before IPI, Soltakhanov accompanied Santana when she travelled to Chechnya from 8 to 11 February to report on the return of refugees and the rebuilding of a school. After returning from Chechnya, authorities at Mineralnye Vody airport questioned Santana as she prepared to board a flight to Moscow on 12 February, and then confiscated her notes, Dictaphone, camera, mobile telephone and disks. Local police said the authorities, who failed to properly identify themselves, were members of the Federal Security Service (FSB). Santana’s possessions were returned the next day.
After Santana returned to Moscow, Soltakhanov was abducted from his apartment in Mozdok, North Ossetia. According to reports, several unidentified men in civilian clothing came to Soltakhanov’s residence and took him away on 12 February. The men then returned to search the residence and told Soltakhanov’s wife, Madina Soltakhanova, that they had found two hand grenades in the house. Soltakhanov has not returned home since, nor has his family been informed of his whereabouts. Santana learned about the incident from Soltakhanov’s wife and believes that it is directly connected to him accompanying the journalist to Chechnya.
IPI condemns this latest harassment of media workers in Russia and calls on Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that Soltakhanov is released immediately and unconditionally. We further urge you to authorise an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident and to help create an environment in Russia that allows journalists to practice their profession free of harassment
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
