Ivan Safronov did not die immediately, despite falling four
floors from a window in his Moscow apartment block. Witnesses
say he tried to get to his feet after hitting the ground, but
then collapsed for the final time.
The police say the death of the well-respected journalist, who
worked for the daily Kommersant newspaper, has all the hallmarks
of suicide - though they are willing to consider the possibility
that he was "driven" to kill himself. But his friends
insist he was not the sort to take his own life. Why should he?
They say he was happily married with children, loved his work
and was awash in job offers. On his way home he had bought a bag
of tangerines, which lay scattered in the stairwell from which
he jumped - or was pushed.
Far from being an individual tragedy, the death of Ivan Safronov
will be seen by many as part of a grim trend. The Kommersant reporter
is at least the 20th Russian journalist to die in suspicious circumstances
since 2000, when Vladimir Putin assumed the Russian presidency.
Shot, stabbed or poisoned, the journalists have two things in
common: no one has been convicted, or in most cases even arrested,
after their deaths. And all of them had angered powerful vested
interests which appear to suffer little restraint in dealing with
their enemies.
"In Russia," said Oleg Panfilov, president of the Moscow-based
Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES), "whenever
you are investigating something that could destroy someone else's
business, it always generates a reaction - often it is murder."
A specialist in military matters, Ivan Safronov revealed embarrassing
failings in the Russian defence programme. Shortly before his
death, he was reported to be working on an exposé of Moscow's
secret arms deals with Iran and Syria, something that, if true,
would have caused further scandal. "He covered themes that
could provoke a reaction," said Mr Panfilov.
Political opponents of the Kremlin can end up in jail, such as
the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, or in exile, such as the equally
rich Boris Berezovsky, or simply vilified and ignored by a media
industry whose independence is being squeezed. But if you offend
the less scrupulous elements in Russian society, you could be
risking your life. You may not be safe even if you flee abroad,
as Britain discovered when the renegade security agent Alexander
Litvinenko died from Polonium-210 poisoning in a London hospital.
Journalists, however, are particularly at risk. According to
a new report from the International News Safety Institute, only
Iraq has claimed more journalists' lives than Russia in the past
decade. Though nobody is suggesting that Mr Putin had anything
to do with the deaths, media organisations around the world have
expressed concern at what they call "a climate of impunity".
At the very least, he is accused of presiding over a country where
it appears that the murder of journalists goes unpunished.
Few of the killings are as overtly political as the murder of
Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down last October at the entrance
to her apartment block. In that case it seemed clear that her
death was sanctioned by someone powerful, who wanted her silenced.
Most cases are much murkier, however; they can be seen as a brutal
form of punishment for reporters who delve too deeply into Russia's
sinister intersection of business, organised crime and the state's
legal and security apparatus.
Working for a nationally known outlet such as Kommersant might
be seen as some protection, though that did not save Ms Politkovskaya
or two other journalists who worked for Novaya Gazeta, a fortnightly
newspaper. She wrote that it received "visitors every day
... who have nowhere else to bring their troubles, because the
Kremlin finds their stories off-message, so that the only place
they can be aired is in our newspaper".
Pursuing corruption in the provinces, however, can be lonelier
and even more dangerous. Two editors of a local newspaper in Togliatti,
a city on the Volga east of Moscow, were murdered in succession.
So was the director of the local TV station.
Death is not the only occupational hazard for reporters who show
too much investigative zeal. Around 50 court cases are pursued
against journalists every year in an attempt to muzzle them, while
some 150 are seriously assaulted each year.
Mr Panfilov makes a direct link between such intimidation and
the presidency. "The problem is with Putin himself,"
he said. "He showed his true colours with Politkovskaya's
death." In the eyes of many, he appeared dismissive and slow
to react. "Putin takes pleasure in launching verbal attacks
on journalists," Mr Panfilov went on. "It is he who
defines the atmosphere in which we work."
And after a journalist is killed, the truth is rarely if ever
exposed. The investigation into how and why Ivan Safronov died,
like those that have gone before, is likely to be quietly closed
and an open verdict declared.
Ivan Safronov
Military affairs specialist for daily national newspaper 'Kommersant'.
Was investigating a Kremlin arms deal with the Middle East. Found
dead on 2 March after 'falling' from a window in his Moscow home
in suspicious circumstances.
Anna Politkovskaya
Crusading investigative reporter specialising in Chechnya, attached
to fortnightly national newspaper 'Novaya Gazeta'. Shot dead in
a contract killing outside her apartment block in Moscow on 7
October 2006.
Vyacheslav Plotnikov
Reporter for a local TV channel in Voronezh. His body was found
in a forest on 15 September 2006, dressed in someone else's clothes.
No signs of a violent death, but his colleagues are convinced
that he was murdered.
Yevgeny Gerasimenko
Investigative reporter on regional newspaper 'Saratovsky Rasklad'
who had been looking into shady local business dealings. Found
dead on 25 July 2006 in his flat, where he had been tortured and
suffocated with a plastic bag.
Alexander Pitersky
Presenter on the St Petersburg radio station Baltika, who sometimes
covered criminal investigations. His body was found in his flat,
where he had been stabbed to death, on 30 August 2005.
Magomedzagid Varisov
A press commentator in his native Dagestan, where he also ran
a think-tank, Varisov had criticised local politicians. Killed
in a machine gun attack in Mahachkala, the capital of Dagestan,
on 28 June 2005.
Pavel Makeev
Cameraman for Puls, a local TV station in southern Russia. Died
on 21 May 2005 while covering illegal street racing in the town
of Azov. His car was rammed by an unknown vehicle and his camera
and tapes taken.
Paul Klebnikov
US citizen of Russian extraction. As editor of the Russian edition
of 'Forbes' magazine, he put together the country's first rich
list and specialised in corruption investigations. Shot dead in
a contract killing in Moscow on 9 July 2004.
Aleksei Sidorov
The second editor of local newspaper 'The Togliatti Overview'
to be murdered in as many years. He was stabbed in the chest with
an ice pick or similar sharp object outside his apartment block
on 9 October 2003.
Yuri Shchekochikhin
Investigative journalist, liberal MP and deputy editor of 'Novaya
Gazeta'. Specialised in investigating corruption in the general
prosecutor's office. Died on 3 July 2003 after an unexplained
allergic reaction. His colleagues believe he was poisoned.
Dmitry Shvets
A senior executive at a local Murmansk TV station, TV-21 Northwestern
Broadcasting. Had been highly critical of local officialdom. Shot
dead outside the station's offices on 18 April 2003.
Valery Ivanov
Editor of 'The Togliatti Overview' and managing editor of the
independent channel Lada-TV, specialising in crime and corruption
in the local car industry. Shot dead in his car on 29 April 2002.
Natalya Skryl
Business reporter on 'Our Time', a local newspaper based in Rostov-on-Don,
investigating controversial dealings in a local metals plant.
Died on her way home after being beaten with a heavy object on
8 March 2002.
Eduard Markevich
Editor of 'Novy Reft', a local newspaper in the town of Reftinsky,
Sverdlovsk region, who was critical of regional authorities. After
a series of threatening phone calls, he was shot dead in the back
on 19 September 2001.
Adam Tepsurgayev
TV cameraman for Reuters who filmed exclusive footage of the
conflict in Chechnya. Shot dead in the village of Alkhan-Kala
on 23 November 2000 by masked gunmen who burst into his home.
Sergey Ivanov
Director of the Lada-TV station in Togliatti. Showed an interest
in the area's notoriously corrupt car manufacturing business.
Shot five times outside his apartment building on 3 October 2000.
Iskandar Khatloni
Journalist investigating human rights abuses in Chechnya for
the Tajik- language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Killed by an axe-wielding attacker in Moscow on 21 September 2000.
Sergey Novikov
Senior executive at the Vesna radio station in Smolensk. Claimed
to be able to prove corruption among high-ranking local officials.
Shot dead on 26 July 2000, in the lobby of his apartment building.
Igor Domnikov
Investigative reporter on 'Novaya Gazeta'. Died on 16 July 2000
after being attacked with a hammer in the lobby of his Moscow
apartment block. His newspaper believes his murder was a case
of mistaken identity.
Artyom Borovik
Senior executive at investigative magazine 'Completely Secret'
that exposed the misdeeds of the rich and powerful. Died on 3
March 2000 in a plane crash that the authorities believe may not
have been accidental.
