The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in January that 13 Russian journalists have been murdered in contract-style killings since 2006, making Russia the third deadliest country for journalists after Iraq and Algeria over the past 15 years.
A military correspondent for Russia’s top business daily has died after falling out of a window – and some fear he might have been killed for his critical reporting.
Ivan Safronov, the military affairs writer for Kommersant, died on Friday after falling from a fifth-story window in the stairwell of his apartment building in Moscow.
His body was found by neighbors shortly after the fall.
With prosecutors investigating the death, Kommersant and some other media suggested foul play.
“The suicide theory has become dominant in the investigation, but all those who knew Ivan Safronov categorically reject it,” Kommersant said in an article Monday.
Safronov’s colleagues and relatives have described him as a strong, cheerful person who would be extremely unlikely to kill himself.
Safronov, who had served as a colonel in the Russian Space Forces before joining Kommersant in 1997, frequently angered authorities with his critical reporting.
He was repeatedly questioned by the Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor, which suspected him of divulging state secrets.
No charges were filed because Safronov was able to prove his reports were based on open sources, Kommersant said.
“For some reason, it is those journalists who are disliked by the authorities who die in this country,” the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets said.
“Ivan Safronov was one of those. He knew a lot about the real situation in the army and the defense industries and he reported it.”
The Moscow city prosecutor’s office did not respond to repeated calls for comment about the investigation into his death, and neighborhood prosecutors could not be reached.
Russia is among the most dangerous countries for journalists and is plagued by attacks on reporters who seek to expose official corruption and other abuses.
The problem was highlighted by the October killing of Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative reporter and a harsh critic of human rights abuses in Chechnya.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in January that 13 Russian journalists have been murdered in contract-style killings since 2006, making Russia the third deadliest country for journalists after Iraq and Algeria over the past 15 years.
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.