Russian tycoon links recent high-profile murders to liberal paper he owns
Interfax
Moscow, 22 January: The president of the Novyye Media holding company, businessman Aleksandr Lebedev, is convinced that the recent murder in central Moscow of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova is linked to the work of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
"There is no doubt that, no matter what results the investigation brings, this cannot but be related to the paper," Lebedev said at a news conference in Interfax's central office on Thursday (22 January).
"We know quite a few things which we shall not disclose for the time being. Over the past six weeks several journalists have been officially provided with security guards but, unfortunately, we are not yet able to ensure the safety of all journalists," he said.
Lebedev added that Novaya Gazeta had been conducting some investigations for a period of up to 18 months and had not yet published anything about them. "Anastasiya Baburova was involved in one of those investigations," he said.
"We shall probably appeal to the Federal Security Service with a rather unconventional request: if you cannot ensure our safety, allow journalists to carry arms," Lebedev added. He also said that the newspaper had so far not received any comment from the authorities on the murders.
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