Russian journalists urge not to leave their colleagues' murders unpunished

Murders and disappearances of journalists, including in Northern Caucasus, remain uninvestigated for years. Casualties' colleagues and relatives must seek punishment of the perpetrators, mass media professionals have stated on the Commemoration Day of Perished Journalists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the above Commemoration Day of the journalists, who perished while performing their professional duties, in marked in Russia on December 15 since 1991. On this day, in Moscow in the Central Journalists' House in Nikitsky Boulevard, families and colleagues of perished journalists used to gather.

The list of perished mass media workers, who is run by the Union of Russian Journalists (URJ) since 1990, contains over 360 names. Among them, there are those, who perished while covering conflicts and counterterrorist operations, who were shot dead or blown up in peacetime, who went missing and died under un-cleared circumstances, says the website of the URJ.

On such a day, it is necessary to hold meetings and discuss the most resonant incidents with media workers, according to the writer, Alexei Simonov, a writer and the President of the Glasnost Defence Foundation, believes.

In Russia, over the past seven years, over 30 Russian journalists have perished, said Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Ombudsperson.

A model of the monument to perished media people in Dagestan is ready; and soon a fundraising campaign will be announced to build the monument, said a news report of "Channel Five". The monument will be erected near the Makhachkala Press House.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.