President of Chechnya: journalists are same heroes as those at war against extremists with arms in hand

On the eve of the Memory Day of journalists who perished at execution of their professional duties, President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov made a special statement naming journalists "warriors of the pen and worthy people."

On December 15, Russia marked the Memory Day of journalists who perished at fulfilment of their professional duties. In Chechnya, it is a special date, as during two military campaigns 50 representatives of mass media were lost and disappeared in the territory of the republic.

"Due to self-sacrifice of journalists and their fidelity to their profession, during the most difficult time for the Chechen people time the whole world received objective information on the events in the republic. Thanks to Allah, today this tragic period in the life of Chechen people is over. Now, the Chechen Republic sends messages about restored and newly-built schools, hospitals, bridges, and revived cities and villages. And we shall never forget those who sacrificed their lives to approach today. Warriors of the pen are as worthy people and heroes as those who were at war against extremists with arms in hand. The journalist's weapon is the word," says the statement.

Meanwhile, activists of the NGOs and the few independent journalists, who continue their work in Chechnya, assert that saying the truth about real events that happen in the republic today is practically impossible.

"Actually, today there is no independent journalism here in the republic. Just a couple of years ago, Chechnya had at least three independent newspapers, which were rather critical towards local authorities. Namely, the 'Grozny Worker', 'Voice of the Chechen Republic' and 'The Chechen Society'. The two latter are closed, and the 'Grozny Worker' today has no more critical materials than the state-owned mass media, that is, none at all," the head of a local NGO said on this occasion. "Thus, not even a smell of the freedom of speech here."

"Talking about our perished and disappeared colleagues, I'd like to ask our leaders about the progress in investigating the kidnappings of our colleagues Ali Astamirova and Elina Ersenoeva committed several years ago. In both cases there was information about involvement of local power agencies," said a Chechen journalists, who preferred to remain anonymous.