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User:Mklambert/Natalia Skryl

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Natalia Skryl
Bornca. 1973
DiedMarch 9, 2002
Cause of deathBeaten to death
Body discoveredMarch 11, 2002
NationalityRussia
CitizenshipRussian
OccupationEconomic Journalist
EmployerNasha Vremia
ParentNellya Skryl (mother)

Natalia Skryl (ca. 1973 – 9 October 2002), an economic journalist for Nasha Vremia, in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia, was murdered from massive blows to the head in Taganrog. At the time she was investigating an ongoing conflict at a metallurgical plant called Tagment.

Personal History

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She was 29 years old at the time of her murder.

Career

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Natalia Skryl was a economic journalist for Nasha Vremia[1] in , who covered many stories that dealt with corruption and controversial big business. The story she was covering the time she was murdered was one of many she had written over the fight over management at the Taganrog plant.

Death

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In the late evening on 9 March 2002, Natalia Skryl was attacked and murdered near her home in Taganrog.[2][3][4] The cause of death was massive blunt force trauma to the head from a pipe or a similar object. Witnesses say the attacker was a young male with long black hair. The witnesses say they did not see the attacker take anything from the victim and evidence backs up this claim.[3][4]

Investigation

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Investigators and co-workers believe that her death was the result of the investigative story about the ongoing conflict of the local metallurgical plant, Tagment. Her colleagues believe this resulted in her death because, just before her death, Natalia had spoken with them and said that she had obtained important, sensitive information about the metallurgical plant, and was planning to meet up with her source, which was on the night of her murder. However, she did not release the source's name to them. Robbery was ruled out at the crime scene because she was found with jewelry and a large sum of cash still on her.[5] Days after her murder, the authorities released information that stated that they had three suspects in custody. These suspects were soon released,and the case took a downward turn.[3][4]

Even though robbery was ruled out at the crime scene, due to the corrupt criminal justice system at the time, the motive behind her death was ruled as a robbery, and the case was closed. With the help of Skryl's mother, Nellya Skryl, and the CPJ, Natalia's case was reopened because officials felt that Natalia's case was not properly investigated. Since 2008, her case has been reopened and closed several times without any progress.[3][4]

Impact

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Russia is one of the top three most dangerous counties for journalist to report and work in, just behind Iraq and Algeria. Her family, co-workers and press freedom organization have expressed their frustration about the corrupt the legal system is in Russia and have been critical of officials who can be swayed to not fully investigate or prosecute suspected attackers of journalists.[5] The system encourages journalists to self-censor themselves in order to avoid intimidation or worse. Under President Vladmir Putin, restrictions of censorship and attacks against the media continue to grow. According to the CPJ, since Putin took control of the country in 2002, there have been 26 journalist deaths in the country, but many more were imprisoned.[6]

Reactions

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In 2005 Nellya Skryl, Natalia Skryl's mother, took part in a CPJ conference where the topics of ineffective investigation on her daughters death, and along with other supporters signed a public declaration that called on Russian authorities to solve the unresolved murders of journalist in the country.[3][4]

President Dmitry Medvedev has stated that he is detrmined to get to the bottom of these journalist murders, but little progress has been made.[7]

See Also

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List of journalists killed in Russia

Articles found

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  • Rusnews[8]
  • Le Monde 2[9]
  • PEN[10]
  • Second Editor Killed In 10 Days As Fear Grips Moscow[11]
  • Death of the Russian Media[12]
  • Testimony before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [13]

References

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  1. ^ Nougayrède, Natalie (1 January 2007). "En Russie, la mise au pas des médias se poursuit sous Vladimir Poutine" (in French). Le Monde. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Six Essays on Press Freedom" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. 2003.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Anatomy of Justice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia" (PDF). Committee to Protect Journalists. 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Anatomy of Injustice Chapter 7. The Robberies: Reaching for a Dubious Motive". cpj.org. 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Moscow Writer's Peers Skeptical of Probe - washingtonpost.com". washingtonpost.com. October 8, 2006.
  6. ^ "Slain Russian journalist's colleagues skeptical of probe". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
  7. ^ "Russia reopens probes into journalist killings". reuters.com.
  8. ^ "Independent: Moscow is covered by fear - the second foreign journalist for 10 days". rusnewsjournal.com.
  9. ^ "Journalistes assassinés en Russie". Le Monde.fr.
  10. ^ "Investigations Re-Opened into the Murders of Five Journalists". pen.org.
  11. ^ "Second Editor Killed In 10 Days As Fear Grips Moscow". rense.com.
  12. ^ http://www.ia-forum.org/Files/Death_of_the_Russian_Media.pdf
  13. ^ file:///Users/shield/Downloads/MsNinaOgnianovaEuropeandCentralAsiaProgramCoordinatorCommitteetoProtectJournalists.pdf
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