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Leading Russian Journalist In Coma After Assault

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 06.11.2010 14:10
By Claire Bigg

A leading Russian journalist has been severely injured in a brutal attack that his editor believes was linked to his work.

President Dmitry Medvedev has called for a thorough investigation into the beating of 30-year-old Oleg Kashin, who remains hospitalized in a coma.

The attack left the well-known reporter with two broken legs, mangled fingers, a damaged skull, and multiple jaw fractures.

Kashin, a political journalist with Russia's best-respected news daily "Kommersant," was attacked overnight near his Moscow apartment by two men who witnesses say had waited for him with a bunch of flowers.

Doctors have put the 30-year-old reporter into an induced coma and placed him in intensive care.

"Kommersant" editor Mikhail Mikhailin said he was shocked by the violence of the attack.

"There are witnesses, one of his neighbors heard what happened. She said Oleg was beaten not with bare hands but with heavy objects. I think it could have been metal objects or baseball bats, because it's impossible to break someone's legs with bare hands," Mikhailin said.

Within hours of the attack, President Medvedev ordered the prosecutor-general and the interior minister to "take special control of the investigation."

"The criminals must be found and punished," Medvedev said on Twitter.

A criminal case was opened for attempted murder.

High-Profile Murders

Rights groups have criticized Russian authorities for failing to solve a string of high-profile murders of journalists, including the 2006 slaying of Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya.

Russia is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters, with 19 unsolved murders of journalists in Russia since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The motive for the attack on Kashin remains unclear, but his colleagues believe it was retaliation for his reporting.

The head of Russia's journalists' union, Mikhail Fedotov, said there was "no question" the attack was tied to Kashin's professional activities.

Mikhailin said it could be linked to his coverage of banned opposition groups.

"Hooliganism and robbery are excluded because Oleg had expensive things with him, including an iPad, a mobile phone, money, and documents, which the attackers did not steal. This was linked exclusively to his professional activities. Oleg carried out various investigations, including into the activities of informal youth organizations," Mikhailin said.

The editor did not offer more details.

Kashin also covered a sustained opposition movement against the construction of a highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg that would cut through the Khimki forest on the edge of the capital.

His beating comes just two days after Khimki activist Konstantin Fetisov was attacked near his home. He remains hospitalized in a severe condition.

Yevgenya Chirikova, the driving force behind the protest against the proposed highway, says the two attacks could be linked: "I don't exclude it, because this project involves corruption. And where there's corruption, there are criminal interests."

A local newspaper editor who actively campaigned against the highway also fell victim to a vicious attack in 2008 that led to the amputation of one of his legs and left him severely brain damaged.

With reporting from RFE/RL's Russian Service

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Top_Russian_Journalist_In_Intensive_Care_Following_Attack/2212495.html

Copyright (c) 2010. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.