(((It's a dazzling new epoch of press freedom!)))
U.S. CALLS ON RUSSIA TO INVESTIGATE POISONINGS. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington on March 8 that his government wants the Russian authorities to quickly investigate the suspected poisoning in that country of two U.S. citizens of Russian origin, who have since returned to the United States for treatment,
Reuters reported. Marina and Yana Kovalevsky, a mother and daughter, are believed to have been poisoned under unclear circumstances with thallium, a highly toxic metal that can cause a slow, painful death.
McCormack said that "we want to ensure that our citizens have answers to the questions that obviously came up – how did this happen? We will be checking...with Russia for progress" on the investigation.
The two women are in a Los Angeles hospital, where they are in a
"fair but stable condition." A hospital spokeswoman said that it is too early to say what caused their illness but added that "at this point there does not appear to be any radiation involved." PM
RUSSIA
REPORT SAYS RUSSIA TRAILS ONLY IRAQ IN JOURNALIST KILLINGS. The
Brussels-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) International News
Safety Institute (INSI) said in its report "Killing The Messenger"
that 88 journalists were killed in Russia between 1996 and 2006, placing it second only to Iraq in the number of killings of media representatives during those years, newssaftey.com and the daily
"Kommersant" reported on March 7. Russia was followed by Colombia, the Philippines, and Iran. The survey concluded that two journalists died violently each week across the world during the period under review. INSI Director Rodney Pinder said that the situation of journalists in Russia is particularly serious. He referred specifically to the October 2006 killing of investigative reporter
Anna Politkovskaya, which has not been solved, and the recent death of "Kommersant" military expert Ivan Safronov, who fell from a fifth-floor window on March 2 under unexplained circumstances (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," March 6 and 7, 2007). The INSI study noted that most slain Russian journalists were the victims of apparent contract killings and that the guilty parties are rarely, if ever, caught. On
March 6, the Brussels-based NGO the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) called on the Russian authorities to provide a
"thorough and transparent investigation" of the Safronov case, ifj.org reported. IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said that "the authorities should not rush to conclusions. This death again raises great concern over the safety of journalists in Russia, but there should be a completely open-minded investigation without any foregone conclusions." PM
