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Alert

CPJ concerned by violent attack on journalist

**Updates IFEX alert of 16 May 2000**


(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 22 May 2000 letter to President Vladimir Putin, CPJ stated that it is deeply troubled by the recent violent attack on Igor Domnikov, a reporter for the twice-weekly paper "Novaya Gazeta" in Moscow, and by the government's recent announcement that it plans to interrogate reporters from both "Novaya Gazeta" and the Moscow daily "Kommersant" for publishing interviews with Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov.

Late in the evening of 12 May, Domnikov was attacked in the entryway of his apartment building in southeastern Moscow, according to numerous sources. The unidentified assailant hit the reporter repeatedly on the head with a heavy object, presumably a hammer, and left him lying unconscious in a pool of blood, where he was found by a neighbor. Domnikov was taken to a hospital with injuries to the skull and brain. Domnikov underwent surgery before being transferred on Saturday to the Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute in central Moscow. After a second operation there, he remains in grave condition and has not yet regained consciousness.

While the motive for the attack remains unknown, Dmitry Muradov, "Novaya Gazeta"'s editor, theorizes that the assailant mistook Domnikov, who covers social and cultural issues, for an investigative reporter named Oleg Sultanov, who lives in the same building. Sultanov claims to have received threats from the Federal Security Service in January for his reporting on corruption in the Russian oil industry.

The Interior Ministry has been actively investigating this brutal attack, according to "Novaya Gazeta" staffers. While this is encouraging news, CPJ remains deeply concerned that both "Novaya Gazeta" and the leading business daily "Kommersant' are under investigation for their coverage of the conflict in Chechnya. On 4 May, state prosecutors announced that they would question journalists at both papers for publishing interviews with Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov.

On 26 and 27 April, respectively, both papers were warned that that publishing interviews with the Chechen leader was a violation of anti-terrorism statutes. Under Russian law, two additional warnings are grounds for closure.

Recommended Action

Send appeals to the president:
- calling on him to continue to investigate the attack on Domnikov and to ensure that those responsible are punished to the full extent of the law
- urging him to ensure that Russian government officials cease intimidating journalists, particularly those reporting on the Chechen conflict

Appeals To

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
Fax: +7 095 206 5173/206 6277

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.