Maritime expert flees Russia in fear of his life

An outspoken Russian journalist who alerted the world to the mysterious disappearance and likely hijacking of the Arctic Sea cargo ship this summer said on Thursday he'd fled Russia in fear of his life.

Mikhail Voitenko, a maritime expert, has suggested the ship may have been carrying a secret Kremlin arms shipment for the Middle East. He believes it was not hijacked as the Kremlin contends but was intercepted by Israeli forces in an international incident neither country wants made public.

In a phone interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said he'd flown to Turkey on Wednesday after receiving a menacing call from a "a cold official voice" the previous day.

"I was advised to leave," Mr Voitenko said. "I'm afraid." He refused to say who the caller was but hinted the person was a state official.

Mr Voitenko runs an authoritative online news service for a Moscow-based Russian transport and shipping company. He was the most prominent expert voice during this summer's alleged hijacking of the Arctic Sea. He suggests he played a direct role in resolving the drama himself too.

The Maltese-flagged vessel and its Russian crew hit the headlines after disappearing with its cargo of Algeria-bound timber. The Russian Navy found the ship in mid-August, three weeks after it had allegedly been hijacked by armed men.

The Kremlin has yet to supply a detailed version of events, the crew has refused to say what happened, and the alleged hijackers are in a Moscow jail.

Mr Voitenko thinks he's offended powerful Russian interests. "Very important people got involved in this business. It was half-private, half-state." He and other commentators have speculated the ship was carrying a secret weapons cache bound for Iran or Syria that was intercepted by Israeli intelligence

From Wiki with linked sources at website...

List of journalists killed in Russia...

1992

* Sergey Bogdanovsky, correspondent of TV “Ostankino”, killed in Moscow[12]
______________________________

1993

* Rory Peck, ARD Germany operator, killed in Moscow on 3 October

* Ivan Scopan, TF-1 France operator, killed in Moscow on 3 October

* Igor Belozerov, 4th Channel Ostankino, killed in Moscow on 3 October

* Sergey Krasilnikov, editor of TV “Ostankino”, killed in Moscow on 3 October

* Vladimir Drobyshev, “People and nature” journal, killed in Moscow on 3 October

* Alexander Sidelnikov, freelance journalist from Saint Petersburg, killed in Moscow on 4 October

* Alexander Smirnov, Yoshkar-Ola based Youth Courier newspaper, killed in Moscow on 4 October

* Elena Tkacheva, proof-reader for Kuban Courier newspaper, killed in Krasnodar on 29 November as a result of a bomb exploding in the newspapers building

* Marina Iskanderova, journalist of a local TV station, murdered in her apartment in Nadym in December

* Dmitry Krikoryants, correspondent for Express Chronicle journal, murdered in his own apartment in Chechnya on 14 or 15 April.[13]
______________________________

1995

* Vladislav Listyev, head of the ORT TV Channel, killed in Moscow on March 1;
______________________________

2000

* Vladimir Yatsina, February 20, 2000. A correspondent for ITAR-TASS, he was kidnapped and later killed by a group of Wahhabis in Chechnya [14]

* Aleksandr Yefremov, May 12, 2000, Chechnya. A photojournalist of the western Siberian newspaper Nashe Vremya was killed in Chechnya when rebels blew up a military jeep in which he was riding. On previous assignments, Yefremov had won acclaim for his news photographs from the war-torn region.[citation needed]

* Igor Domnikov, from Novaya Gazeta, July 16, 2000, Moscow. Unknown assassin hit him repeatedly on the head with a hammer in the entryway of his apartment building in Moscow. The killer was never found. It is believed that the assailant mistook Domnikov for a Novaya Gazeta reporter Oleg Sultanov who received threats from the FSB for his reporting on corruption in the Russian oil industry.[6]

* Sergey Novikov, Radio Vesna, July 26, 2000, Smolensk. He was shot and killed in the stairwell of his apartment building. He often criticized the government of Smolensk Region.[citation needed]

* Iskandar Khatloni, Radio Free Europe, September 21, 2000, Moscow. He was killed at night with axe in his Moscow apartment by an unknown assailant. The motive of the murder is unknown, but Khatloni work on stories about the human-rights abuses in Chechnya.[15]

* Sergey Ivanov, Lada-TV, October 3, 2000, Togliatti. He was shot five times in the head and chest in front of his apartment building. He was director of Lada-TV, the largest independent television company in Togliatti, which was an important player on the local political scene.[16]

* Adam Tepsurgayev, Reuters, November 21, 2000, Chechnya. A Chechen cameraman, he was shot at a neighbor’s house in the village of Alkhan-Kala. He produced most of Reuters’ footage from Chechnya in 2000, including shots of Chechen rebel Shamil Basayev having his foot amputated.[citation needed]
______________________________

2001

* Eduard Markevich, 29, editor and publisher of local newspaper Novy Reft in Sverdlovsk Region, was found dead (shot in the back) on September 18. He often criticized local officials and had received threatening telephone phone calls prior to the murder. [17]
______________________________

2002

* Natalia Skryl, the Nashe Vremya newspaper, Taganrog town;

* Konstantin Pogodin, the Novoye Delo newspaper, Nizhni Novgorod city;

* Valeri Batuev, Moscow News newspaper, Moscow;

* Sergei Kalinovski, the Moskovskiy Komsomolets, Smolensk;

* Vitali Sakhn-Val’da, photojournalist, Kursk town;

* Leonid Shevchenko, the Pervoye Chteniye newspaper, Volgograd;

* Valeri Ivanov, the chief editor for the Tol’yattinskoye Obozrenie newspaper, the Samara region;

* Sergei Zhabin,the press service of the governor of the Moscow region;

* Nikolai Vasiliev, Cheboksary city, Chuvashia;

* Leonid Kuznetsov, the Mescherskaya Nov’ newspaper, the Ryazan region;

* Paavo Voutilainen, a former main editor of the Kareliya magazine, Kareliya;

* Roddy Scott, the Frontline-TV TV Company, from Great Britain.

* Alexandr Plotnikov, the Gostiny Dvor newspaper, Tyumen city;

* Oleg Sedinko, the founder of the Novaya Volna TV and Radio Company, Vladivostok city;

* Nikolai Razmolodin, the general director of the Europroject TV and Radio Company, Ulyanovsk town;

* Igor Salikov, the chief of the Department of information safety of the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper in Penza;

* Leonid Plotnikov, the publishing house “Periodicals of the Mari-El”, Yoshkar-Ola.[18]
______________________________

2003

* Aleksei Sidorov, Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye, October 9, 2003, Togliatti. He was the second editor-in-chief of local newspaper, “Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye” to be shot to death. His predecessor, Valery Ivanov, was shot in April 2002. The newspaper was known for reporting on organized crime and corruption in the industrial city of Togliatti.[citation needed]

* Yuri Shchekochikhin, Novaya Gazeta, July 3, 2003, Moscow. Deputy editor of the Novaya Gazeta, he died just a few days before his scheduled trip to USA to discuss the results of his journalist investigation with FBI officials. He investigated “Three Whales Corruption Scandal” that involved high-ranking FSB officials. Shchekochikhin died from an “acute allergic reaction”. There are many speculations about cause of his death.

* Dmitry Shvets, TV-21 Northwestern Broadcasting, April 18, 2003, Murmansk. He was deputy director of the independent television station TV-21 Northwestern Broadcasting. He was shot dead outside his station offices. Shvets’ colleagues said their station had received multiple threats for its reporting on influential local politicians.[citation needed]
______________________________

2004

* Yefim Sukhanov, ATK-Media, Archangelsk;

* Farit Urazbayev, cameraman, Vladivostok TV/Radio Company, city of Vladivostok;

* Adlan Khassanov, Reuters reporter, killed in Grozny;

* Shangysh Mondush, correspondent for newspaper Khemchiktin Syldyzy, Tuva Republic;

* Paul Klebnikov, editor of Russian version of Forbes magazine, Moscow;

* Payl Peloyan, editor of Armyansky Pereulok magazine, Moscow;

* Zoya Ivanova, BGTRK broadcaster, Republic of Buryatia;

* Vladimir Pritchin, editor-in-chief of North Baikal TV/Radio Company, Republic of Buryatia;

* Ian Travinsky, Saint Petersburg, killed in Irkutsk;[19]
______________________________

2005

* Pavel Makeyev, reporter for TNT-Pulse Company, Rostov-on-Don;

* Magomedzaghid Varisov, Makhachkala;

* Alexander Pitersky, Baltika Radio reporter, Saint Petersburg;

* Vladimir Pashutin, newspaper Smolensky Literator, Smolensk;

* Tamirlan Kazikhanov, press service head, Anti-Terrorist Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’s Main Department for the Southern Federal District, Nalchik;

* Kira Lezhneva, reporter, newspaper “Kamensky Worker”, Sverdlovsk Region.[20]
______________________________

2006

* Vadim Kuznetsov, editor-in-chief of journal “World and home. Saint Petersburg”, killed in Saint Petersburg

* Vaghif Kochetkov, newspaper Trud (Labor), killed in Tula

* Ilya Zimin, worked for NTV Russia television channel, killed in Moscow by an acquaintance

* Vyacheslav Akatov, special reporter, “Business Moscow” TV show, killed in Moscow Region

* Anton Kretenchuk, cameraman, 38th TV Channel, killed in Rostov-on-Don

* Yevgeny Gerasimenko, newspaper “Saratovsky Rasklad”, Saratov

* Vlad Kidanov, freelance journalist, Cheboksary

* Alexander Petrov, editor-in-chief, “Right for Choice” magazine, killed near Omsk - in Altai Republic

* Vyacheslav Plotnikov, reporter, 41st TV Channel, Voronezh

* Anna Politkovskaya, observer, newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Moscow, shot in her apartment building’s elevator;[21][22][23][24]

* Anatoly Voronin, business chief of ITAR-TASS; Moscow, stabbed to death in his home
______________________________

2007

* Konstantin Brovko, journalist of TV company “Gubernia”, killed in Khabarovsk

* Ivan Safronov, Military columninst of newspaper “Kommersant”. Died in Moscow on March 2 - cause of death disputed.[25][26]
______________________________

2008

* Ilyas Shurpayev, Dagestani journalist responsible for news coverage of Northern Caucasus on Channel One, was strangled with a belt by the robbers in Moscow.[27][28]

* Gaji Abashilov, chief of Dagestan outlet of VGTRK, shot in his car.

* Magomed Yevloyev, owner of Ingushetiya.ru, shot while in custody of Ingush police officers.[29][30][31].

* Abdulla Alishayev, Dagestani journalist fatally wounded by unknown assailants.[32]
______________________________

2009

* Anastasia Baburova (Novaya Gazeta)[33]. She was with human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who reportedly was the target of the assasin.[34]

* Yevgeny Lukinov, a Channel One reporter died in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia on 30 May, 2009. “The journalist died on Saturday morning in a private house in Tskhinvali,” Channel One said. According to a spokeswoman the death was an accident.[35]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.