14 July 2004
FORBES EDITOR MURDERED
A chilling message has been sent to journalists in Russia following the murder of Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian edition of "Forbes Magazine" who was shot and killed in Moscow on 9 July 2004.
Klebnikov, an American citizen, was shot four times by unidentified assailants as he left his office, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). No motive for the killing has been determined. However, "Forbes" attracted attention in May when it reported that Moscow had more billionaires (33) than any other city in the world, says CPJ.
The list included business magnate Boris Berezovsky, one of several billionaires whom Russian President Vladimir Putin has trying to rein in as part of efforts to curb the power of the country's oligarchs. Klebnikov had also written a book about Berezovsky in August 2001 entitled "Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the
Looting of Russia."
Since 2000, 14 journalists in Russia have been killed because of their work, notes CPJ, and in none of the cases has anyone been brought to justice.
CPJ has joined Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the International Press Institute (IPI) in calling on Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder and to stop the impunity surrounding the killing of journalists.
Visit these links:
- CPJ Report on Putin and the Press: http://www.cpj.org/news/2004/Russia09july04na.html
- RSF 2004 Report on Russia:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10229
- IPI Report: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Europe/russia.htm
- WAN: http://www.wan-press.org/article4560.html
- PBS Wide Angle Special on Russian Journalists: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/russia/index.html
(Image courtesy of RSF)
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