Journalists Silenced During Russian Vote

Reporters Without Borders , an international organization dedicated to press-freedom, has condemned violations of journalist rights that took place during Russia’s March 2nd presidential election. “The incidents that occurred during the election are indicative of the nervousness that the authorities feel towards independent journalists,� the group said in a press-release. The organization received information on numerous instances of rights violations: In South Sakhalin, an army lieutenant attacked a reporter of the Yuzhno Sakhalinsk “Tvoya Gazeta� (Your Paper). Pavel Abakumov was trying to make sure than no ballot stuffing was taking place. In Novosibirsk, photographer Yevgeny Ivanov was accused of “resisting the authorities� and “failing to register,� when he refused to stop taking photos in a polling station. In St. Petersburg, a reporter of “Grazhdansky Golos� was detained by militsiya for “being in a polling station without authorizati...