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Journalist assaulted in Tyumen region

(GDF/IFEX) - Oleg Rayevsky, head of the public and social issues division of "Yarkovskiye Izvestia" newspaper, was brought to the surgery ward of Regional Hospital No. 24 in Yarkovo, Tyumen region, late on 30 October 2009. The journalist had a concussion and exhibited abdominal and facial injuries, after having been assaulted by unidentified men near a café where he had had dinner with his wife.

"Ten or so men stood waiting for me near the entrance, (and they started) beating me without providing any explanation. This did not look like an ordinary fistfight. Nor had I provoked them in any way," the journalist told a GDF correspondent.

The assault may be linked with Rayevsky's professional activities. Shortly before the incident, he had registered a new independent newspaper, named "Yarkovosti", the first issue of which was to be released in early November. The journalist had also been gathering information and conducting an investigation into problems with the laying of a gas supply pipeline in the village of Yarkovo, focusing on the way budgetary allocations were being used.