Washington, August 19, 2004—A delegation led by the Committee
to Protect Journalists met with senior U.S. and Russian officials today,
calling on them to work together to aggressively investigate and prosecute
those responsible for the July murder in Moscow of Forbes Russia
editor Paul Klebnikov.
"We urge U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir
Putin to ensure that Paul Klebnikov's killers are brought to justice,"
CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said later. "The business and international
communities are watching developments in this case very closely."
Klebnikov, 41, an American journalist of Russian descent, was shot four
times by at least one assassin in a passing car as he left his office
in Moscow the night of July 9. An investigative reporter whose work focused
on the nexus of business, politics, and crime, Klebnikov was reportedly
the target of threats before the slaying.
Authorities in Moscow have said they believe Klebnikov was killed because
of his work. They described it as a contract-style slaying, the 11th such
murder of a journalist in Russia since Putin took office in 2000. No one
has been brought to justice in any of the slayings.
Meeting in separate sessions with senior officials at the White House,
State Department and Russian Embassy, the CPJ delegation called on authorities
in both countries to work together to end the years-long pattern of deadly
violence against journalists.
"Journalists are being murdered with impunity in Russia, and Paul Klebnikov's
slaying is the most recent, shocking example," said Cooper, who led the
delegation. "Now is the time for the Kremlin to address this climate of
lawlessness and demonstrate a willingness to enforce its own laws."
The CPJ delegation also included Peter Klebnikov, a brother of the deceased
journalist; Andrew Alexander, a CPJ board member and Washington bureau
chief for Cox Newspapers; CPJ Washington representative Frank Smyth; and
Alex Lupis, CPJ senior program coordinator for Europe and Central Asia.
The delegation also met with staff members from the Congressional Commission
on Security & Cooperation in Europe.
Background
Klebnikov launched Forbes' Russian edition in April
2004, believing that reforms were propelling the country toward greater
transparency in business and politics. In his first editorial, Klebnikov
said Russian business had arrived at a "new, more civilized stage of development"
and cited the launch of Forbes' Russian edition as evidence.
In May, Forbes Russia published a list of Russia's 100 wealthiest
people and reported that Moscow had 33 billionaires, more than any other
city in the world. Publication of the list focused attention on Russia's
billionaires, many of whom are trying to keep a low profile as Putin's
regime uses the courts, prosecutors, and security services to rein in
oligarchs and strengthen the state's economic role.
U.S.-based National Public Radio reported that some oligarchs threatened
the editor, claiming their assets were inflated on the Forbes list.
Klebnikov had investigated other powerful people as well. In 1996 he profiled
Boris Berezovsky, the media and oil tycoon who had close ties to the Kremlin
during President Boris Yeltsin's tenure. The Forbes profile suggested
Berezovsky might have been involved in the 1995 murder of television journalist
Vladislav Listyev, an allegation that prompted Berezovsky to sue Klebnikov
and Forbes in the United Kingdom for libel. The suit was withdrawn
after Forbes said it had no proof of Berezovsky's involvement.
Klebnikov expanded his profile of Berezovsky into a book titled "Godfather
of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism,"
which he published in 2001.
Klebnikov's second book was published in Russian. "Conversation with a
Barbarian: Interviews with a Chechen Field Commander on Banditry and Islam"
was based on interviews with Chechen separatist leader Khozh Akhmed Nukhayev
and focused on organized crime in Chechnya. And Klebnikov had begun gathering
material for a new book about the Listyev slaying, his publisher, Valery
Streletsky, told the U.S.-based Baltimore Sun.
|
