16 October 2006

Alert

Critical website on Chechnya shut down


Incident details

Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, Oksana Chelysheva

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 October 2006 CPJ press release:

RUSSIA: CPJ fears silencing of critical Web site on Chechnya

New York, October 13, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the closure today of a Russian nongovernmental organization which publishes an online newspaper regarded as one of the few reliable sources of news on Chechnya.

The closure comes just six days after the murder in Moscow of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the Kremlin's policies in Chechnya. For more on that murder, see http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/europe/russia10oct06na.html

The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS), a human rights group based in Nizhny Novgorod, southeast of Moscow, was ordered closed by a regional court under new legislation restricting NGOs. The law was enacted by President Vladimir Putin in January amid local and international criticism.

RCFS publishes Pravo-Zashchita (Rights Defense) online. The fate of the publication is unclear. A printed edition of Pravo-Zashchita with a circulation of 5,000 was distributed in the North Caucasus and several other Russian cities until September 2005 when it ran out of money, RCFS director, and Pravo-Zashchita editor Stanislav Dmitriyevsky told CPJ. He said he planned to appeal the closure.

"The closure of Pravo-Zashchita would further limit independent information from Chechnya. The Russian people need this information more than ever, now that Anna Politkovskaya's voice has been silenced by her terrible murder," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Dmitriyevsky told CPJ that the court closed down his organization because of his criminal conviction in February for inciting ethnic hatred. Dmitriyevsky was given a suspended two-year jail sentence for publishing comments from Chechen rebel leaders calling for peace talks in 2004. Under the new legislation, no one with a criminal record can head an NGO.

"We are witnessing an intensified campaign of shuttering every single voice that has covered the Chechen conflict independently," Dmitriyevsky said.

Dmitriyevsky and colleague, Oksana Chelysheva, an editor for Pravo-Zashchita, have both received threats in the past because of their work for RCFS.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org



Source:

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Phone: +1 212 465 1004
Fax: +1 212 465 9568
 

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More on this case

Harassment of human rights activist Stanislav Dmitrievksy continues 4 September 2007 ARTICLE 19 condemns silencing of critical voices on Chechnya as court closes NGO 18 October 2006 Journalist convicted to two-year suspended sentence, four-year probation for "inciting interethnic hatred" 4 February 2006 Authorities continue to harass editor and newspaper for their reporting on Chechnya 18 October 2005 Authorities escalate intimidation campaign against independent newspaper, editor threatened 17 March 2005 CPJ concerned about campaign to obstruct work of journalists reporting on Chechnya, criminal investigation launched against monthly newspaper 5 March 2005

Russia

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