Caucasus: More Journalists Attacked, Killed

Following the death in police custody of a prominent critic of the authorities in Ingushetia, Terror News Briefs says that a rare anti-government rally held to protest the death of yet another journalist in the Russian Federation is sign of increased tensions in the region.

The death of Magomed Yevloyev, an outspoken Kremlin critic, is the latest, but perhaps most significant, incident in a surge of violence that has gripped the republics of the North Caucasus since Russia sent its troops into Georgia.

Meanwhile, The Other Russia comments on news that another two journalists have been attacked in the region — one fatally. The blog says that this brings the number of journalists killed in Russia since 1991 to 220.

Abdullah Alishayev, a Russian television reporter in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, died early Wednesday morning from gunshot wounds sustained the night before. As the Interfax news agency reports, Alishayev was attacked by armed gunmen as he sat in his car in Makhachkala, the Republic’s capital.

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Alishayev is the second media worker to be killed in Russia’s Caucasus regions in the past three days. On Sunday, the owner of an independent news website was killed while in police custody in Ingushetia. Another journalist and editor, Miloslav Bitokov, was hospitalized after he was assaulted in Nalchik, in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic.

The New York Times quotes and OSCE official as calling Yevloyev’s death an “assassination” while Dzutsev’s Weblog also comments on the news.

In the light of latest events apparently the price of harrassing, beating and murdering a journalist in North Caucasus has dropped down to one of the lowest levels. While it is obvious, that Magomed Yevloev was persecuted and eventually murdered because of his staunch opposition to the Ingush authorities, those who attacked Mr Alishaev and Mr Bitokov may have been much smaller scale people. These people may have realized, that if government is allowed to kill journalists in such a blatant manner, as they did with Mr Yevloev, they can do it too.

Couple of weeks ago in the republic with the most robust media in the region, Dagestan the independent and popular paper Chernovik was practically shut down, its editor, founder and journalists had their home searched for extremist literature by FSB.

Apparently after certain point, attacks on media in North Caucasus have become easier and increased in scale. This development is coupled with worsening human rights situation, crackdown on dissented people. More things are going on in the Northern Caucasus, but fewer journalists are left to do the reporting.