Posted on 04/20/2017 3:15:43 AM PDT by elhombrelibre
A prominent Russian journalist known for articles criticizing Russias government and President Vladimir Putin has died at a hospital in St. Petersburg after being severely beaten by unknown assailants.
Nikolai Andrushchenko, a 73-year-old co-founder of the weekly newspaper Novy Petersburg, had been unconscious since he was attacked on March 9.
Andrushchenkos colleagues and his lawyer say he underwent brain surgery after the attack and initially had been connected to a ventilator, but later was able to breathe on his own.
However, they said he never regained consciousness and died on April 19.
His attackers have not been found.
Novy Petersburg editor Denis Usov linked the attack against Andrushchenko to articles that the newspaper has written about corruption in the city.
Those articles reported extensively on connections between St. Petersburg city officials and organized criminal syndicates.
Dunja Mijatovic, the representative for freedom of the press with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said in a Twitter message on April 19 that Andrushchenkos death was the result of a "brutal beating."
Mijatovic has said that "journalists in Russia are far too often subject to acts of intimidation, threats and attacks."
Andrushchenko had been a member of the St. Petersburg city council from 1990 until 1993.
He became a renowned journalist as a result of his investigative reporting about human rights issues in Russia, organized crime, and police brutality.
Andrushchenko began to express concerns about Putin after he came to power in 2000, writing that the secret services were taking control over Russia.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted that Andrushchenko had been arrested and imprisoned in 2007 on charges of defamation and obstruction of justice after he reported on a murder investigation and trial in St. Petersburg.
The CPJ also noted that Andrushchenko had been beaten by unidentified attackers in November 2007.
At the time, Andrushchenko's colleagues said they thought his beating and detention by authorities were attempts to intimidate him over Novy Petersburg's critical coverage of local authorities ahead of parliamentary elections.
Andrushchenko later claimed he was tortured in custody.
In 2009, a court in St. Petersburg found him guilty of libel and extremism and fined him.
The Memorial Human Rights Center had recognized Andrushchenko as a political prisoner when he was in custody.
“In other news, this evening Nancy Pelosi can be found at the following address ...”
and the US media thinks they’re treated poorly.
Two reasonably plausible options:
(1) Putin had him taken down as a message to his opponents.
(2) Americans had him taken down as a false flag to portray Putin as a thug.
I don’t think President Trump would have ordered that sort of thing, but it would not surprise me if entrenched bureaucrats who miss the Cold War had done it as part of their continuing effort to make sure we don’t cooperate with Russia, not even in our areas of mutual interest.
Having witnessed our media at it’s current worst? (bound to get worse)
I really can sympathize but not agree on handling this reporter.
After hearing this news, Obama bent over and said “Vlad, look, I’m more flexible!”
Novy Petersburg editor Denis Usov linked the attack against Andrushchenko to articles that the newspaper has written about corruption in the city.
Those articles reported extensively on connections between St. Petersburg city officials and organized criminal syndicates.
...
So Putin didn’t kill him and the headline is intentionally misleading.
If he was anything like our media, he should have expected that ending over there.
Putin is ex-KGB. If one applies Occam’s Razor, any US entity being involved in this (such as entrenched bureaucrats) is far, far less likely than any internal Russian one, particularly the one who was being criticized.
false flag of course
GWB used to be head of CIA. think about it
No one out of us here and a few thousand other Americans are going to read or hear of this.
Less will care.
Barely anyone even reporting on it.
Putin has done this before. Hell, obama likely did it to reporters in his tenure (the blown up car). Or it could have been Russian organized crime.
Feel bad for the guy but he chose to expose corruption and organized crime, so that went with the territory.
Not everything’s a conspiracy :)
He’s not in office anymmore :) That ended Jan 20.
Let it go :)
Seth died a lot quicker.
Agreed. I think we should work with Russia where we can.
But he IS ex KGB. He was almost 40 when the USSR broke up. Later on he called it one of the worst events of the 20th century.
Let’s work with him. Let’s respect him as he is cunning. Let’s NEVER trust him.
Agreed. I don’t like or trust him, but...you have to work with the materials you are given.
So we should do that.
His Dad was I thing. GHWB.
I dont think President Trump would have ordered that sort of thing, but it would not surprise me if entrenched bureaucrats who miss the Cold War had done it as part of their continuing effort to make sure we dont cooperate with Russia, not even in our areas of mutual interest.
1 is certainly more plausible, but not by such a large margin that 2 is unreasonable. Putin is a thug and perfectly capable of eliminating his opponents. However, we have thugs in our own government who are willing to abuse the power of our government to attain their personal political goals.
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