The
Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of
PEN International welcomes the pledge by Russian authorities to reopen investigations into the cases of five murdered journalists. Valery Ivanov, Natalia Skryl, Aleksei Sidorov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and Vagif Kochetkov were all killed -- or are suspected to have been killed -- in connection with their journalistic activities. WiPC urges Russia's
Federal Investigative Committee to investigate these cases thoroughly, and calls for an end to the climate of impunity that exists in Russia where attacks on journalists frequently go uninvestigated.
Russian journalists work in an increasingly hostile environment and live under constant threat of legal harassment and violence. In 2010, some 40 journalists were attacked because of their work. According to human rights groups, there have been
19 unsolved murders of journalists since 2000. Investigations are often superficial and frequently stagnate. Progress in high-profile murder cases, such as those of
Anna Politkovskaya (murdered in 2006) and
Natalia Estemirova (murdered in 2009), has been very slow. The five murdered journalists whose cases have been reopened are listed below:
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