PEN International is alarmed at the killing of prominent journalist and newspaper founder Khadzhimurad Kamalov on December 15, 2011, in Dagestan. Kamalov, who had previously been subject to numerous threats, was gunned down by a masked assailant as he was leaving the offices of his newspaper. PEN calls on the Russian authorities to ensure that a full and impartial investigation is conducted to ensure that those responsible for the assassination are brought to justice.

Background Information

On December 15, 2011, Khadzhimurad Kamalov, the founder of the independent weekly Chernovik, was reportedly shot up to 14 times by a masked assailant outside the paper’s offices in the capital Makhachkala as he left work shortly before midnight. The gunman reportedly fled the scene by car.
 
There has been a long history of harassment towards the staff of Chernovik, with five of its journalists arrested on trumped-up charges of “extremism” between 2008 and 2011. The newspaper has frequently addressed highly sensitive topics in the southern republic of Dagestan, in particular reports of police abuses in neighboring Chechnya. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also reports that, in a recent television interview, Kamalov had made critical comments about alleged regional government corruption.
 
Kamalov had reportedly received numerous threats since founding the paper in 2003. Writing in the British Guardian newspaper, the journalist’s former colleague Nadira Isayeva said she was not surprised that Kamalov had been murdered, claiming that “Throughout my seven-year association with Khadzhimurad Kamalov I have been waiting for this day. The day they killed him.”

Write A Letter

  • Condemning the assassination of journalist and newspaper founder Khadzhimurad Kamalov;
  • Calling for a full and impartial investigation into the murder, in particular examining whether the killing was the result of Kamalov’s journalistic activity;
  • Calling on the Russian authorities to live up to their commitments to protect freedom of expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to ensure that threats against journalists are fully investigated as a matter of priority.

Send Your Letter To

Mr. Dmitry Medvedev
President of the Russian Federation
Kremlin
Moscow
Russia
Fax: +7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408
Email: [email protected]

Mr. Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Ishaya Dmitrovka 1 a GSP e
Moscow 12599 3
Russia
Fax: +7 095 292 88 48

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Russia in your country if possible.

Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN if sending appeals after January 31, 2012: ftw [at] pen.org