Moscow holds Journalists' Commemoration Day

On December 15, the Moscow Central House of Journalists held the Journalists' Commemoration Day.

The memory action, organized by the Union of Journalists of Russia, was held for the fifteenth time already. The large hall of the House gathered relatives and friends of the journalists who perished in performance of their professional duties.

The mourning ceremony was opened by Vsevolod Bogdanov, Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Russia. He said that December 15 is a very important day for journalists, since it is the memory day about 330 their fallen colleagues. Mr Bogdanov stressed the need to remember all of them, because many of these deaths have not been investigated yet, and perpetrators have not been punished.

The Chairman told about the help rendered to the families of perished colleagues. "We provide material help to families and help the children of our lost colleagues to get education at the Moscow State University (MSU) and the MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations). After graduation, many of them choose journalism as their profession," said Bogdanov.

John Crawford, an expert of the International Federation of Journalists, told about the virtual memory book, containing information about all Russian journalists who died a violent death. "In a terrible road accident in Cherkessk a young female journalist perished. It turned out that it was just a road accident. The investigation was not very honest; the driver was brought to justice. This story is also contained in our virtual book. There, you'll also find articles by Bella Ksalova," said Mr Crawford.

Information about slain journalists can be found on the website of the Union of Journalists.

At the end of the meeting, the audience was shown fragments from documentaries dedicated to Anastasia Baburova, Yuri Schekochikhin and Artyom Borovik.

For several years in a row the Samsung Company had been sponsoring the Journalists' Commemoration Day. This year's event was sponsored by other companies, as Samsung had helped a lot to victims of summer fires.