Editor-in-chief of local newspaper heavily beaten in Sochi

On Monday, April 26, at 3:00 p.m., in the entrance of No. 34 in the Pirogova Street in Sochi, an attack was committed on Arkadi Lander, editor-in-chief of the Sochi-based newspaper "Mestnaya" (Local); he was severely beaten. The journalist is sure that it was an attempt to kill him because of his professional activities.

Two attackers were frightened away by the neighbours who were going downstairs. They remembered the criminals and have already made their identikits.

The attackers made 4-6 blows on the journalist's head with a crow bar. Doctors diagnosed fractures of skull bones, brain concussion and lacerations of head skin which bared the skull. The journalist is in grave condition and will face several surgeries.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent managed to talk to Arkadi Lander about the incident.

"I was on my way back home from a shop at about 3 p.m. When I went up to my floor, came up to the door and, standing with bags full of food, wanted to call at the door, when unexpectedly received a heavy blow on my head with some iron, apparently with a crow bar," said the journalist has told. "I did not lose consciousness, dropped the bags and tried to turn around aiming to resist, but heavy blows followed one after another. I had money and other things on me, but they took nothing. They were just violently beating me. They surely wanted to kill me, and would have succeeded if not for the neighbours."

"I suppose who the customer was," said Mr Lander. "But so far, I'll refrain from comments. I can tell one thing: no doubt, the order has to do with my editorial and journalistic activities in the 'Mestnaya' newspaper, where we objectively covered the elections to the Sochi City Assembly, quoted opinions of the population and described the city and territory leaders."

Mr Lander's neighbours, who became witnesses of the incident, preferred remaining anonymous but said that the journalist was beaten on his head by two young men who used iron bars. The saw them earlier: within a week they were sometimes seen standing on the staircase one level above Lander's apartment, but people gave no attention. "All the doors of the floor were blocked by sticks, not to allow neighbours to go out to the noise," the eyewitnesses said.

According to Oleg Rubezhanskiy, Arkadi's colleague, "any attack has its aim and task." "If they wanted to plunder Lander, they would just have done it. But they took nothing; therefore, the aim was to liquidate the journalists, as he was beaten with heavy sticks. It's ferocity, evidencing another time that the press in Russia is not free; and journalists have to pay with their health and life for the freedom of speech; while the state grants us no guarantees."