European Forum

Prominent journalist killed in Russia's Caucasus

Yesterday (December 15), the editor and publisher of the Daghestan weekly newspaper ‘Chernovik’, Khadzhimurad Kamalov, was shot dead near his newspaper's office in the city of Makhachkala.

Editor-in-chief of ‘Chernovik’, Biyakai Magomedov, expressed his belief that Khadzhimurad was murdered to intimidate other journalists who work for the newspaper. An official of the Dagestan Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee said a criminal case is open and that a key issue is ‘the journalist's professional activities.’

Khadzhimurad Kamalov, 46, was director-general of the Freedom of Speech Company and founder of the ‘Chernovik’ newspaper. He had written numerous articles critical of the authorities and the Dagestani government and had done investigative reporting on the disappearance of people in the republic. Newspaper ‘Chernovik’ is also famous for its critical coverage of the police abuses against an Islamist dissent that has spread across the Russian Caucasus, starting from Chechnya. Since 2003 the newspaper had been repeatedly subject to legal proceedings. The latter court case finished with the ruling in favour of the newspaper’s team, which was charged with the accuses of extremism.

According to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 70 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992, while 52 of them were killed as reprisals for their work.

Daghestan, a federal Republic of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region, has been a scene of low-level Islamist unrest, which Russian officials blame on militants seeking to create an Islamic state across the region.


Sources: Radio Free Europe, Euronews, UPI.com. Image: Flickr.