Dagestan

Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent daily Chernovik, was murdered in Makhachkala, capital of Russia's southern republic of Dagestan, on December 15, 2011. The slaying was brazen, coming on the national Day of Remembrance for journalists killed in the course of their work. The late-evening assault took place outside Chernovik's newsroom, located on Makhachkala's Magomed Gadzhiev Street. Equipped with numerous security cameras, the street is a throughway for government motorcades, including that of the regional president. Nobody moves undetected there. But Kamalov's slaying is yet to be solved.

Nadira Isayeva, a 2010 CPJ International Press Freedom Award winner, has been living in exile since she left her native Dagestan, in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, in November 2011. Isayeva, the editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Chernovik, had been harassed by security forces for her relentless, critical coverage of their heavy-handed anti-terrorism operations in the region. Yet she was hesitant to leave, unable to imagine herself not reporting on these issues.

After fellow human rights advocates finally convinced Isayeva to leave, she came to New York, where she works as a fellow at Columbia University's Harriman Institute. (The interview has been edited).

New York, December 16, 2011--Russian authorities must carry out an urgent and effective investigation into Thursday night's assassination of Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent weekly Chernovik, which had tackled highly sensitive topics in the southern republic of Dagestan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, December 15, 2011--Today's murder of Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent newspaper Chernovik in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan today is a lethal blow to press freedom, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, May 19, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's court ruling in the southern republic of Dagestan, which acquitted Editor Nadira Isayeva and four reporters with the Makhachkala-based independent weekly Chernovik of long-standing, politicized extremism charges.