Human rights activists call on Russian authorities to investigate attack on journalist Elena Milashina

The Russian authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the attack on Elena Milashina, the well-known Russian journalist and human rights activist, who was severely beaten by unidentified persons. This appeal was delivered by the human rights organizations "Human Rights Watch" and "Committee to Protect Journalists".

On April 5, at about 0:30 a.m., Elena Milashina, the journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", was attacked near his house in the city of Balashikha of the Moscow Region. Together with her, her friend Ella Asoyan, a staff member of the American Organization for Promoting Democracy and Human Rights "Freedom House", suffered. Ella Asoyan was in Moscow on transit, and she stayed at Elena Milashina's place.

"I was returning home with my friend. We were attacked by two persons. They beat us brutally, knocked out teeth, and I got bruises on both temples; they beat me with their feet and fists to face and head. They pulled out a bag with notebook of my friend. They took my money (apparently, they saw me paying for water at a trade stall). We called "02" (police) at 00:37 a.m. The very attack occurred at 00:20 a.m. Three girls rescued us. Otherwise, the attackers would beat us to death," wrote Elena Milashina in her blog.

According to the "Human Rights Watch", after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", Elena Milashina took over her area of work to highlight human rights violations in Northern Caucasus. He is also busy with her own investigation into one more resonant murder the murder of Natalia Estemirova, the well-known Chechen human rights activist.

"We have a lot of questions about the incident. Elena Milashina is known for her journalist investigations, and in the past she highlighted very dangerous themes. For example, human rights violations in Northern Caucasus, murders and disappearances of people in Dagestan and Chechnya. Knowing about her activities and taking into account her publicity, it is difficult to imagine that she was a random victim of robbers," stated Nina Ognyanova, the head of the Eastern European Division of the "Committee to Protect Journalists".

In October 2009, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, demanded to institute a criminal case against Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta" and three observers of the newspaper Vyacheslav Izmailov, Irina Gordienko, and Elena Milashina under Article "Libel". The reason for the lawsuit was the articles published in the "Novaya Gazeta" in the period of May 2008-February 2009. The information contained in those publications was treated by the plaintiff as false and defamatory to his honour and dignity. The Chechen President demanded that the newspaper would refute the information and pay for moral compensation. On February 9, 2010, Ramzan Kadyrov withdrew lawsuits against the "Novaya Gazeta" at the request of his mother.