The International Federation of Journalists has called on the Russian authorities to respond “urgently and forcefully” to a series of killings of journalists after the assassination of an editor who was investigating criminal links with one of the country’s major corporations.
Aleksei Sidorov, the editor-in-chief of independent newspaper, Togliatti Review, was stabbed to death on 9 October by two unidentified men near his home in Togliatti in the Volga region. Sidorov had been investigating criminal groups tied up with Russia’s largest car manufacturer, Avtovaz.
“This is the fourth targeted killing of a journalist in Russia this year,” said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary. “There is a sinister and unacceptable pattern of murder that strikes at the heart of free expression. The government must respond urgently and forcefully to this crisis for democracy.”
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