The International Press Institute (IPI) today called on Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the stabbing death of a journalist working for a regional television company in northern Russia.
Anatoly Bitkov, the chief editor of Kolyma Plus regional television company, was found dead in his apartment this morning in the city of Magadan with multiple stab wounds to his head and body.
Investigators said the wounds likely caused his death, and that a criminal case had been opened. They expressed doubt that the murder was connected to Bitkov’s work, but said that all possible motives would be checked.
IPI Press Freedom & Communications Manager Anthony Mills said:
“This shocking murder shows anew the dangers that journalists in Russia face, and the possible consequences of allowing a climate of impunity to fester. We are concerned about the investigators’ statement apparently downplaying any potential connection to Mr. Bitkov’s work, and the speed with which that statement appeared. We extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Bitkov’s family and colleagues, and we call on Russian authorities to conduct a swift, transparent investigation that adequately explores all possible theories of this crime.”
Russia remains a dangerous country for journalists, especially those working in the volatile North Caucasus region. Last month, Yakhya Magomedov of the Russian Islamic newspaper As-Salam was killed when he was shot four times near the city of Khasavyurt in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.
Also in May, a Moscow court sentenced nationalist Nikita Tikhonov to life in prison for the 2009 shootings of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anastasia Baburova. Tikhonov’s girlfriend and accomplice, Yevgenia Khasis, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
According to IPI’s Death Watch, two journalists were killed in Dagestan in 2010.
Sayid Ibragimov, director of local television station TBS, died in May of that year on his way to restore a TV re-transmitter damaged by militants’ fire one day earlier. Ibragimov’s car, which was carrying a team of repairmen, and an accompanying police jeep were ambushed near the village of Ayazi. Gunmen set off a bomb in front of the vehicles and then opened fire on them, killing five men, among them Ibragimov, and wounding four others.
Magomedvagif Sultanmagomedov, a Muslim scholar who was the head of Makhachkala TV and the Nurul Irshad (Light of Truth) publishing house in Dagestan was killed on 11 August, 2010 when he was fatally injured by unidentified gunmen as he was driving his car in the centre of Makhachkala, the North Caucasus republic’s capital. He later died in a hospital. Colleagues said they believed that his murder was the result of his journalistic activities.
