Russian Union Of Journalists Looking Into Attack On Novaya Gazeta Reporter In Chechnya

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2023) The Russian Union of Journalists is looking into an attack on the correspondent for Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Elena Milashina, in Russia's Chechen Republic, although the organization has not received any requests for help, the head of the union, Vladimir Solovyov, said on Tuesday, stressing that assaults on journalists are unacceptable.

Earlier in the day, Novaya Gazeta reported that unidentified assailants had beaten Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov as they arrived in the Chechen capital of Grozny to attend a court hearing for Zarema Musayeva, the jailed mother of three self-exiled Chechen opposition activists. Several masked men brutally beat Milashina and Nemov, took their cell phones and destroyed their equipment and papers, the newspaper said. The journalist was diagnosed with a closed head injury and fractured fingers and is not transportable, according to the report.

"We are looking into the situation, no one has asked us for help," Solovyov said, adding that any attacks on journalists are unacceptable.

In January 2022, Musayeva, the wife of ex-Chechen judge Saydi Yangulbaev, was arrested in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod and taken to the Chechen Republic for questioning, where she was accused of assaulting a police officer. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the arrest was made in accordance with Russian law. The former judge and his daughter have since left Russia.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Grozny district court sentenced Musayeva to 5.5 years in prison for fraud and violence against authorities, a Sputnik correspondent reported. She did not plead guilty to the charges.