The International Press Institute (IPI) today called on authorities in the Russian Republic of Dagestan to thoroughly investigate the murder of a newspaper editor outside his home yesterday morning and to bring those responsible to justice.

According to international reports, unidentified assailants shot local journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev yesterday morning while he was in his car in the village of Semenger near the republic’s capital of Makhachkala.

Akhmednabiyev, an editor and chief political correspondent at Novoye Delo, a weekly newspaper known for its reports on alleged corruption in the local government, reportedly died on the spot.

IPI Executive Board Chair Galina Sidorova, who also chairs the Foundation for Investigative Journalism – Foundation 19/29, Russia, said: “We would like to express our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev. We also note the fact that even the official police investigators have directly attributed his murder to his professional work.

“Seventeen journalists have been killed in Dagestan in the last two decades. In most cases, the perpetrators and the masterminds have never been brought to justice, in spite of all of the declarations by law enforcement authorities about their ‘strong efforts’ to do so. This never-ending impunity makes such crimes not only possible, but predictable.”

IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi added: “Dagestan is an extremely-volatile region. Nevertheless, it is of core importance that journalists be allowed to report on issues of public interest without having to fear for their lives. We call on local authorities to ensure that perpetrators of crimes against journalists are brought to justice.”

Akhmednabi, who also contributed to the popular online newspaper Caucasian Knot, previously survived an attempt on his life in January, Reuters reported, and previously received several death threats for his criticism of organised crime and local political figures.

RFE/RL reported that Dagestani police indicated that Akhmednabiyev’s murder was likely connected to his work as a journalist and that several of his recent articles investigated alleged motivations behind some of the violent crimes in the region.

Grigory Shvedov, editor of Caucasian Knot, told Reuters that the incident was “clearly a targeted killing,” adding that Akhmednabiyev was killed on the same spot where he had survived the January attack.

Reuters also reported that Akhmednabiyev’s name was included in a list of alleged “militants” and “accomplices” created and distributed by anonymous authors in 2009. The leaflets said that those listed would be targeted as revenge for the deaths of security forces and other civilians.

Khadzhimurad Kamalov, another journalist also on that list and founder of another local newspaper, Chernovik, was killed outside of his office in December 2011.

Dagestan is among the most dangerous regions in the country, with Islamist rebels targeting police, journalists, lawyers, and other officials in almost daily attacks. The republic has become the focus of an Islamist insurgency stemming from two recent wars in neighbouring Chechnya.

According to Caucasian Knot, Akhmednabiyev was the 17th journalist to have been killed or to have died in suspicious circumstances in Dagestan since 1993.