Grigory Pasko: Violence against Journalists Worsening in Russia

In confirmation of his words, the representative of the MVD cited several examples. Thus, for example, correspondent of the newspaper "Moscow news" Valery Batuyev was murdered in March of the year 2003 by his acquaintances in a quarrel after a joint imbibing of spiritous beverages.

Two weeks earlier...  The declarations resonating from the side of highly-placed representatives of individual countries and organizations about the supposedly political character of the murder of the journalist Anastasia Baburova can not but amaze the Russian side. About this they declared in the department of information and press of the MFA RF.

«The latest data bear witness that Anastasia Baburova turned out to be an innocent victim of the situation, when an attempt was undertaken against the lawyer Stanislav Markelov, -- they clarified in the Ministry. -- The tragic events associated with the death of the journalist are beginning to get artificially politicized and used with unseemly objectives for the discreditation of Russia, to be drawn under already elaborated conceptions of the absence of freedom of the press in the RF, the persecution of journalists».

And now...  Well, of course, what do you expect? Those good-for-nothing journalist types, they go and kill themselves, or get drunk with who knows who and then they wake up with a knife in the chest. They write about who knows who, and then they complain that someone's implanted a bullet in their skull. It's all their own fault. And that Grachev no doubt split his skull against the door jamb in the entryway. And Beketov over there in Khimki accidentally fell under the baseball bats of some fine upstanding young men. And Baburova? Why, you shouldn't go around trying to rip pistols out of the hands of people busy working at their jobs. In short: all just simple ordinary everyday occurrences. And in general - we ought to still also check all those beaten and murdered pen-pushers for the subject of extremism-alcoholism and what-not. I mean, just look at what they're doing, manifesting some kind of Murzilki* solidarity, writing about each other and all... While in actuality - it's really nothing personal, political, professional.... Nothing but simple ordinary everyday happenings. Nothing even to investigate here, really. And no reason to. That's all, break it up now, everybody go home, you're all free to go...

Photo of the magazine Murzilka. - a children's magazine that's been published since the year 1924. The main character in the magazine is Murzlika - «a yellow furry personage in a red beret with a scarf and a photo camera over the shoulder». Journalism department students, and journalists themselves, were called «Murzilki» in the USSR.