opinion

Website owner's last words to his editor: "Roza, they are taking me away"
by Reporters Without Borders

Roza Malsagova, the editor of the Ingushetiya.ru website, Ingushetia's only source of independent news and information, has just lost an ally in her struggle against the government’s determination to suppress all coverage of human rights abuses in this southern Russian republic, which adjoins Chechnya and which is contaminated by the region’s conflicts.

Magomed Yevloyev, the site's owner and a government opponent, was murdered while held by the security forces in the new capital, Magas, on 31 August. He was arrested by interior ministry officials who were waiting for him as he disembarked from a plane at Magas airport. He managed to call Malsagova and tell her: "Roza, they are taking me away." He was found dead a few hours later.

The authorities say his death was an accident, that he was killed when he tried to grab a gun from one of the policemen and it went off. A criminal investigation is under way into the possibility that his death was a case of "murder through negligence."

Malsagova, who fled to France with her three children seeking political asylum a few weeks ago, is convinced the authorities are lying. "This is a political murder that was masterminded by President Murat Zyazikov," she told Reporters Without Borders.

Since exchanging those last few words with Yevloyev, she says she no longer sees "any way forward." The two had met in Paris on 26 August to discuss the future. Ingushetiya.ru is the only local website covering the unrest and violence in Ingushetia, but a Russian court ruled in June that access to the site should be blocked because of its "extremist" content.

As the website's owner and editor, Yevloyev and Malsagova were also being prosecuted, while contributors to the site who are still in Russia are threatened. Some have gone into hiding or keep changing their place of residence. Although he knew he was in danger, Yevloyev decided to make a brief trip to Ingushetia. President Zyazikov happened to be on the plane that he took from Moscow to Magas, and according to an unconfirmed report, they got into an argument during the flight.

As Yevloyev was being buried on 1 September, a street protest was launched at the request of Magomed Khazbiyev, one of the opposition leaders, to demand the president’s resignation and an impartial investigation into Yevloyev's death. Special troops dispersed the demonstration the following morning.