“Freedom of speech or death?”: murders of journalists remain unpunished
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Pressure on the media intensifies
November 2 is the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
“A good journalist is a dead journalist,” that’s what the security forces liked to say “jokingly.” They were the ones behind the death of our colleague Dmitry Kholodov. They considered freedom of speech a threat to the state, and honest and desperate people like Dima were subject to destruction.
29 years have passed since the moment the diplomat handed over by the killers exploded in Dima’s hands. We (the MK team) believe that the criminals have not yet been punished. The authorities did everything to shield them. Impunity gives rise to the temptation to commit more and more crimes.
The Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was established after Kholodov’s death. The date was chosen in memory of two French journalists killed on November 2, 2013 in Mali. However, even earlier, other dates were proposed, including November 23 – in memory of the largest massacre of reporters in the Philippines, October 7 – the day of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and October 17 – the day of the death of Dmitry Kholodov. But it’s not about the date, it’s about the essence.
When Dima was killed, the security forces were forced to open a criminal case (what else could they do?). But the investigation was conducted not only with difficulty, but with disgrace. They didn’t want to look for the killers. There were at least six perpetrators of the murder: some carried out surveillance and wiretapping, some assembled the bomb, and some put the suitcase with it in a storage locker at the station. Almost all of them, according to our data, were from a special detachment of the 45th Airborne Special Forces Regiment.
When MK reporters named the names, the investigation did not make arrests, but, on the contrary, gave them time to evade responsibility. Defense Minister Grachev did not have the status of a suspect for long (it has been proven that he gave orders to his subordinates to deal with the journalist Kholodov). And in the end he became only a witness.
Six years later, the case came to court. Six people were in the dock. But they found too many high-ranking defenders. Two years later they were released. They were acquitted and even awarded compensation for “illegal criminal prosecution.”
Once again: no one – neither the customers nor the performers – was punished for the murder of Dima. Still.
How many journalists have been killed in recent years? And it all started with Dima. Impunity gives free hands and gives those in power a voluptuous desire to deal with unwanted journalists. And in their face, kill all journalism. Listyev, Shchekochikhin, Politkovskaya… – there were so many of them. How many will there be? And not only here.
Over the past ten years, violence against journalists around the world has only been increasing. This is facilitated by the fact that terrorists and rebels no longer need reporters who can tell about them: today they themselves successfully convey what they consider necessary, and they do not need extra eyes and ears. A terrible confirmation of this is the public execution of Western journalists captured on video by representatives of ISIS (an organization banned in the Russian Federation).
Since 1993, more than 1,600 journalists have been killed, 9 out of 10 of these cases remain unsolved. Most tragedies occur not in conflict zones, but in everyday life. Among the most dangerous countries are Mexico, Iraq, and the countries of the Middle East. Most were preceded by attacks, threats, and censorship.
Impunity gives rise to new crimes. In 2020-2021 alone, according to UNESCO, 117 journalists were killed. 38 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 32 in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2021, the percentage of female journalists killed increased from 6 to 11. According to UNESCO, only 14% of all these murders were investigated and resulted in judicial convictions. That is, they are punished only in one case out of ten. And what kind of punishment is this? Murderers are not always given a real sentence.
And the pressure on the media is increasing around the world more than ever. Prosecutions, intimidation, trolling, various forms of censorship are everyday life today. Can this be stopped? I would like to believe that yes. But first we need to stop impunity.
Newspaper headline:
Freedom of speech or death?
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