According to an article on Reporters Without Borders, another journalist following the near fatal beating of journalist Mikhail Beketov and the murders of lawyer Stanislas Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, was attacked for being critical of the local authorities in his town.
Yuri Grachev, editor-in-chief of a local Russian newspaper, was badly beaten on February 3rd near his house in Solnechnogorsk, a town north-west of Moscow.
On another report by the Index on Censoship, Grachev, a 72-year-old retired colonel and local deputy, was publisher, editor and most likely the main if not the only journalist for the newspaper Solnechnogorskiy Forum. The paper has no website and is not even listed among local newspapers on the town’s main web resources, so in other circumstances this attack could have gone unnoticed.
Grachv's newspaper is the only opposition publication in Solnechnogorsky, and colleagues say the paper was critical of the authorities, and exposed corruption. The attack is all more worrying since the city is in the middle of an election campaign. Residents are due to elect a mayor and local councilors. The forthcoming edition of the paper on February 10 was due to cover the election.
Various observers agree that the attack was aimed at putting Grachev out of action at least until March 1st — election day for many Russian regions. It is hard to predict how those attacks against journalists will affect the electoral choices of local communities.
- By Jessica Smith (Russia)
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