The Kremlin faces renewed pressure to protect journalists A Russian journalist has been brutally beaten, according to Russian media, in the second such attack in days.
Anatoliy Adamchuk, from the Zhukovskiye Vesti suburban Moscow weekly, suffered concussion and head injuries, according to Ekho Moskvy news agency.
It comes after leading journalist Oleg Kashin was severely beaten outside his home on Saturday.
Footage of what appears to be Mr Kashin’s assault spread online and was aired on state TV.
The incidents have increased pressure on the Kremlin to investigate cases of press violence, which are common in Russia.
Mr Adamchuk had been reporting on the arrests of children protesting against the cutting down of Khimki forest, Ekho Moskvy reported.
“Two unidentified individuals attacked him from behind, striking him on the back of his head and delivering several more blows when he was already down on the ground,” journalist Sergey Grammatin, a colleague of Mr Adamchuk, was cited as saying.
Mr Kashin had also been reporting on demonstrations against the building of a motorway through the forest, a project that has now been put on hold by the government.
The Khimki district administration has denied claims of involvement in Mr Kashin’s attack, according to Interfax news agency.
“The rights of reporters to fulfil their obligation in a normal fashion and not worry about their lives – this is the right of society to speak and be heard”
Journalists’ letter
Meanwhile, a 90-second clip of what purported to show the attack on Mr Kashin, a reporter with Kommersant business daily, showed the extent of the assault.
In the black and white film, two figures are seen striking Mr Kashin repeatedly with an iron bar or similar weapon.
Mr Kashin, who was attacked outside his Moscow apartment building in the early hours of Saturday, suffered a fractured jaw, broken shins and injuries to his fingers and skull.
President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the assault, which police are treating as attempted murder.
A group of leading Russian journalists has written an open letter to President Medvedev to make journalists’ safety a priority.
“The rights of reporters to fulfil their obligation in a normal fashion and not worry about their lives – this is the right of society to speak and be heard,” the letter said.
The letter also said that eight Russian reporters had been killed this year and another 40 had come under attack.
Human rights groups say there have been 19 unsolved murders of journalists since 2000 and that investigations into attacks lead nowhere.
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