13 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Two Russians accused of inciting hatred with an art exhibition in Moscow have been found guilty. Andrei Yerofeyev and Yuri Samodurov escaped prison sentences but were fined. Last week 13 prominent Russian artists wrote an open letter to Russian President Dimitry Medvedev asking him to call off the trial on the grounds of the impact it would have on the contemporary art scene. Oleg Kassin, from the ultra-nationalist group which filed the complaint against the “Forbidden Art” exhibition, was quoted as saying “If you like expressing yourself freely, do it at home, invite some close friends”.
24 Jun 2010 | News and features
Independent Radio station Ekho Moskvy is well known in Russia as a bastion of free speech. Editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov tells Maria Eismont about everyday dealing with death threats, censorship and the Kremlin
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29 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Arkadi Lander, editor-in-chief of the Sochi-based newspaper ‘Mesnaya’, was brutally attacked at his apartment on 26 April by two unidentified men. “No doubt, the order has to do with my editorial and journalistic activities in the ‘Mestnaya’ newspaper, where we objectively covered the elections to the Sochi City Assembly,” Lander stated soon after the attack. He was hospitalised with a fractured skull and concussion.
13 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The mayor of Murmansk a city in north-west Russia, has been accused of censorship by the editor of Vecherni Murmansk newspaper. Nataliya Chervyakova’s claims relate to an article that accused local officials of failing to re-calculate citizens’ payments for heating in 2009 – in defiance of a government order. Chervyakova says that she was summoned to the office of Mayor Sergey Subbotin a few days before the article was due to be published on April 6, and told not to publish the story. When she refused to pull the piece , Subbotin allegedly threatened both her and her family.
