Dmitry Shvets

Thirteen journalists have been killed in contract style murders since Russian President Vladimir Putin took office, according to reporting by the Committee to Protect Journalists. No one has been brought to justice in any of the slayings.

e, the relatives and colleagues of journalists murdered in Russia, along with Russian and international press freedom advocates, who convened for a conference in Moscow on July 7, 2005, declare the following:

The lack of progress in investigating journalist murders undermines freedom and democracy in Russia, and demonstrates the lawlessness and impunity with which Russian and international media can be targeted.

While integration into NATO and the European Union has had a positive effect on press freedom conditions in most of Central Europe and the Baltic states, the situation for journalists in Russia and the former Soviet republics has worsened steadily, with governments relying on authoritarian tactics to silence the media. Even reformist governments in the Balkans failed to make significant improvements in press freedom conditions because most leaders in the region avoided addressing the lawlessness, government corruption, and organized crime that plague their societies.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and his coterie of former intelligence officials pressed ahead in 2003 with his vision of a "dictatorship of the law" in Russia to create a "managed democracy." Putin's goal of an obedient and patriotic press meant that the Kremlin continued using various branches of the politicized state bureaucracy to rein in the independent media.

New York, April 18, 2003—Russian journalist Dmitry Shvets, head of the independent television station TV-21 Northwestern Broadcasting in the northern Russian city of Murmansk, was shot dead today outside of the station’s offices. The motive is unclear.

Police have launched an investigation, but no details were available. CPJ will continue to monitor the case.