Magomed Yevloyev, one of the creators of the Ingush news website ingushetiya.ru, was shot dead while held by interior ministry officials in Nazran (in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia).

He was arrested by police on his arrival at Nazran (Magas) airport in the afternoon of the 31st August 2008

The president of Ingushetia, Murat Zyazikov, was on the same flight. At the airport, Zyazikov ordered the police to arrest Yevloyev, and he was put in a police car. The Moscow based investigations unit of the Prosecutor-General’s Office spokesman Vladimir Markin said “an incident” took place after Yevloyev was taken into a police car “resulting in a shooting injury to the head and he later died in hospital”, Interfax reported.

The ingushetiya.ru website is among the most visited for news on Ingushetia and had openly criticised the Ingush president who had often threatened to shut it down. Russian justice authorities had ordered in June that the site be shut down, saying it was disseminating “extremist” views. Moscow had also blocked access to the site late last year after it called for protests against the local administration which the opposition accuses of corruption and mismanagement. Ingusetiya.ru’s chief editor Rosa Malsagova earlier this month had announced plans to seek asylum in France.

“This was a murder that must be solved,” said Alexander Cherkassov, from the Russian rights group Memorial.
“His death must not go unpunished. It is vital that the international community, especially the European Union, should demand to know what really happened and who was responsible. The explanations given by the Ingush authorities make no sense,” said Reporters Without Borders.

Media freedom groups say Russia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative reporter who was critical of the Kremlin, was shot dead in 2006 outside her Moscow apartment.

In June, Human Rights Watch accused Russian security forces of widespread human rights abuses in Ingushetia, saying it has documented dozens of summary and arbitrary detentions, acts of torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions. It said officials in Ingushetia persecuted peaceful Muslims and government critics, marginalized opposition groups and stifled independent media.
Link to ingushetiya.ru

Link to ingushetiya.ru (English Version)