In Russia, opposition daily Novaya Gazeta has announced that due to increasing dangers they will pull all their staff from Chechnya after a a string of killings there on human rights activists and journalists. In October 2006, the same paper’s investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, known for her scathing criticism of pro-Moscow Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the Kremlin, was shot dead. Read more here
A well-known journalist in Daghestan has been found shot dead today, in the North Caucasus region Russian news agencies have reported. Malik Akhmedilov, a leading correspondent for the daily newspaper “Hakikat” (The Truth) was found dead in a car on the outskirts of Daghestan’s capital, Makhachkala. “Hakikat” Editor in Chief Ali Kamalov said he is confident that the killing is connected with his professional activities. Read more here
A Russian NGO chief and her husband were found shot dead in Chechnya on Tuesday, with their corpses stuffed into a car boot. The murder of the head of Let’s Save the Generation, Zarema Sadulayeva, and her husband came less than one month after Natalya Estemirova, one of the best known activists in Chechnya, was killed in similar circumstances. Read more here
Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, told technology website CNET News that denial-of-service internet attacks which disrupted Twitter, Facebook and Live Journal services yesterday were targeted specifically at a Georgian blogger known as Cyxymu. “It was a simultaneous attack targeting him to keep his voice from being heard,” he told the website. The blogger has told the Guardian that he blames the attack on the Kremlin. Today marks one year since the war between Russia and Georgia over the South Ossetia region. Read more here