The Russian Elena Milashinathe most successful journalist of the Russian media Novaya Gazetahas suffered a brutal attack in Chechnyawhere he traveled to attend a trial, his colleagues reported this Tuesday.
“Several masked men brutally beat Yelena and Aleksandr (Nemov, a lawyer who accompanied her), took their phones, demanded that they unlock them and destroyed their equipment and documents,” he denounced. Novaya Gazeta.
“They hit them with sticks and gave them stops,” the outlet added.
The newspaper points out that Milashina, who has several broken fingers, was sprayed with green antiseptic, and passed out several times after the assaultincluded in the hospitalwhere it was transferred.
Russian Ombudsman, Tatiana Moskalkova, He spoke to Milashina on the phone and promised that the attack would be investigated in a “thorough” manner.
“Those responsible must wear a punishment», he assured.
The spokesman for KremlinDmitri Peskov, said for his part that the president Vladimir Putin had been informed about the attack on Milashina and Nemov and stated that it is a “very serious attack” that requires “strong crackdown”.
Milashina had traveled to Chechnya to attend the reading of the sentence of Zarema Musáevamother of Chechen activists, accused of assaulting a police officer.
The journalist from Novaya Gazetaspecialized in human rights issues, has not lived in Russia since February 2022, when she left the country due to threats from the Chechen authorities.
The threats that Miláshina received for her journalistic work, compared to those made by the murdered Anna Politkóvskaya, were also previously denounced by Amnesty International.
OSCE condemns attack
The Representative for Freedom of the Media of the OSCETeresa Ribeiro, condemned this Tuesday the brutal attack against the well-known journalist
“I strongly condemn the brutal attack, which is part of a harrowing pattern of attacks against Elena Milashina», said Ribeiro, former Secretary of State for European Affairs of Portugal.
In a statement he recalled that the journalist had already been physically assaulted in Chechnya in February 2022, which was followed by death threats in April of the same year, and subsequently subjected to new intimidation and verbal abuse.
Ribeiro reiterated that it is essential that media workers be able to carry out their professional work without fear of violence or intimidation.
“I hope that the Russian authorities will do everything in their power to bring those responsible to justice, in line with the statements of several Russian officials who have called for investigative and prosecution measures,” he said.
