7 July 2003

Alert

Agence France-Presse reporter kidnapped in Ingushetia


Incident details

Ali Astamirov

journalist(s)

kidnapped

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(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called on the Russian authorities to make every effort to locate a reporter for the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) who was kidnapped in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. The organisation urged the authorities to thoroughly investigate his disappearance.

On 4 July 2003, Chechen journalist Ali Astamirov was accosted by three armed men, two of whom were wearing masks, in the town of Nazran. The unknown individuals threatened him with a gun and bundled him into a white car without a licence plate, according to Aslan Dadayev. Dadayev works for the Reuters news agency and the United States-funded Radio Liberty. He witnessed Astamirov's abduction.

"This region has always been a dangerous one for journalists and several have previously been kidnapped by armed men," noted RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. On 6 July, the Prosecutor's Office in Nazran announced it had launched an investigation.

Astamirov has worked for AFP for more than a year, covering Ingushetia and Chechya. He had received several anonymous threatening phone calls in recent months.



Source:

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
@rsf_rwb
 

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Updates to this story

AFP correspondent Ali Astamirov kidnapped exactly two years ago in Ingushetia 4 July 2005 No progress in enquiry one year after kidnapping of AFP journalist in Ingushetia; UN and Council of Europe petitioned 5 July 2004 RSF lobbies EU and OSCE about kidnapped journalist in Ingushetia 3 October 2003 Kidnappers still not identified three weeks after journalist's abduction in Ingushetia 29 July 2003

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