Yuri Shchekochikhin
Encyclopedia
Yuri Petrovich Shchekochikhin (Russian:
Ю́рий Петро́вич Щекочи́хин) (June 9, 1950, Kirovabad
- July 3, 2003, Moscow
) was a Russian investigative journalist, writer, and liberal lawmaker of Russian parliament. Shchekochikhin made his name writing about and campaigning against the influence of organized crime
and corruption. His last non-fiction book was about people who worked as KGB
informers.
A journalist of opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta
, he investigated Russian apartment bombings
allegedly directed by the Russian secret services and Three Whales Corruption Scandal
which involved high-rank FSB
officers and was related to money laundering through the Bank of New York
.
He died suddenly in July 2003 from a mysterious illness, just a few days before his scheduled departure to the United States
where he planned to meet with FBI investigators. His medical documents ended up "classified" by the Russian authorities. The symptoms of his illness fit pattern of poisoning by radioactive materials and were similar to the symptoms of Nikolai Khokhlov, Roman Tsepov
, and Alexander Litvinenko
. According to then alive Litvinenko and news reports, the death of Yuri Shchekochikhin was a politically-motivated assassination
in 1975. He worked as an investigative journalist
at Komsomolskaya Pravda
(1972–1980) and Literaturnaya Gazeta
(1980–1996), and then as a deputy editor of the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta
(from 1996). Beginning in the 1990s, he published many articles critical of the First
and Second Chechen War
s, human rights
abuses in the Russian army
, state corruption
, and other social issues.
In Summer 1988 Shchekochikhin has published interview with a lieutenant colonel of militia
Aleksander Gurov, in which existence of organized crime in Soviet Union
was first publicly stated. That brought fame to both Gurov (who became the head of 6-th Agency of MVD of USSR which struggled against organized crime) and Shchekochikhin.
Yuri Shchekochikhin began his political career in 1990, when he was elected as a representative to the Congress of People's Deputies. He was elected to the Russian State Duma
from the liberal Yabloko
party in 1995. He was a member of a Duma committee on the problems of corruption
, and was a UN expert on the problems of organized crime
. He was a vocal opponent of the First
and Second Chechen War
s.
Since early 1995 he was an author and host of an investigative journalism
program called "Special Team" on ORT
, Russian television's first channel (that time owned by Boris Berezovsky). In October 1995 heads of the channel closed the program. According to Shchekochikhin, the reason was an episode called "For Motherland! For mafia!", which was devoted to the Chechen War unleashed in his opinion by "leading banks of Russia".
In 2000 he accused Russia's Deputy PM Ilya Klebanov
of covering up the fact that Russia did not have the resources to attempt a rescue of the Kursk submarine crew. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/926105.stm
From 2002, Shchekochikhin was a member of the Sergei Kovalev
Commission, which investigated allegations that the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings
had been orchestrated by the Russian Federal Security Service
(FSB) to generate support for the war http://www.eng.terror99.ru/publications/107.htm.
One of Shchekochikhin's last articles before his death was "Are we Russia or KGB of Soviet Union?"http://ys.novayagazeta.ru/text/2003-01-27.shtml It described such issues as the refusal of the FSB to explain to the Russian Parliament what poison gas was applied during the Moscow theater hostage crisis
, and work of secret services from Turkmenistan
, which operated with impunity in Moscow against Russian citizens of Turkoman origin.
He also tried to investigate the Three Whales Corruption Scandal
and criminal activities of FSB
officers related to money laundering
through the Bank of New York
and illegal actions of Yevgeny Adamov
, a former Russian Minister of Nuclear Energy http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/45n/n45n-s04.shtml http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/45n/n45n-s00.shtml. The case of Three Whales was under the personal control of President Vladimir Putin
http://ys.novayagazeta.ru/text/2003-06-02.shtml. In June 2003, Shchekochikhin contacted the FBI and got an American visa to discuss the case with US authorities http://www.yabloko.ru/Publ/2006/2006_06/060620_novg_shekoch.html. However, he never made it to the USA because of his sudden death. Some Russian media claimed that Putin has issued an order to discharge 19 high-ranking FSB officers involved in this case in September 2006 as part of a Kremlin power struggle, but all these officers still continue to work in their FSB positions http://www.grani.ru/Politics/Russia/President/m.114307.html.
http://www.yabloko.ru/Publ/2006/2006_06/060620_novg_shekoch.html. It was officially declared that he died from an allergic Lyell's syndrome. His medical treatment and his post-mortem took place at the Central Clinical Hospital, which is "tightly controlled by the Russian Federal Security Service
because it treats top-ranking Russian officials". His relatives were denied an official medical report about the cause of his illness, and were forbidden to take specimens of his tissues for an independent medical investigation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/6324241.stm. Journalists of Novaya Gazeta
managed to send his tissue specimens to "major foreign specialists". The experts did not reach any definite conclusion. This caused widespread speculation about the cause of his death, especially since another member of the Kovalev commission, Sergei Yushenkov
, was assassinated the same year http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2957823.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2958997.stm, and the legal counsel and investigator of the commission, Mikhail Trepashkin
, was arrested by Russian authorities.http://eng.trepashkin.ru/ http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460132006?open&of=ENG-2U4
Some news reports drew parallels between the poisonings of Shchekochikhin, Alexander Litvinenko
, and president Vladimir Putin
’s former bodyguard Roman Tsepov
, who died in a similar way in St. Petersburg in September 2004. Others noted Lecha Islamov, a Chechen rebel, who died in a Russian prison in 2004. “All three cases of poisoning – of Islamov, Shchekochikhin and Litvinenko – are united not only by the clinical picture, which is identical even in terms of the details, but also by the fact that the traces of the poisoners clearly point to one address: Moscow, Lubyanka (FSB
headquarters),” according to Chechenpress
report written by Zelimkhan Khadzhiev.
(the domestic operations of which later became the FSB) to work as undercover informers or agents. These people virtually became their KGB controllers' slaves, betraying their relatives, close friends and colleagues. When he died, he had not finished working on a book about the 20th Century wars in Chechnya
.
In an interview he gave just before his death, he said
newspaper staff the Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia opened the investigation of his death anew on October 27, 2007.. In April 2008 an Investigative Committee official said that there would be another test carried out on his tissue to ascetain whether there had been a case of poisoning.. The Prosecutor General of Russia
has closed the criminal case in April 2009 after the conducted examination has failed to prove poisoning or a violent death.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
Ю́рий Петро́вич Щекочи́хин) (June 9, 1950, Kirovabad
Kirovabad
Kirovabad can refer to:* The former name of Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan.* The former name of Panj or Pyandzh a city in Tajikistan.* Kirovabad pogrom - pogrom in Kirovabad formerly Ganja....
- July 3, 2003, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Russian investigative journalist, writer, and liberal lawmaker of Russian parliament. Shchekochikhin made his name writing about and campaigning against the influence of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
and corruption. His last non-fiction book was about people who worked as KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
informers.
A journalist of opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
, he investigated Russian apartment bombings
Russian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 people and injuring 651. The explosions occurred in Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and...
allegedly directed by the Russian secret services and Three Whales Corruption Scandal
Three Whales Corruption Scandal
The Three Whales Corruption Scandal is a major corruption scandal in Russia involving several furniture companies and federal government bodies which has unfolded since 2000.-2000 smuggling investigation :...
which involved high-rank FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
officers and was related to money laundering through the Bank of New York
Bank of New York
The Bank of New York was a global financial services company established in 1784 by the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. It existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007...
.
He died suddenly in July 2003 from a mysterious illness, just a few days before his scheduled departure to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he planned to meet with FBI investigators. His medical documents ended up "classified" by the Russian authorities. The symptoms of his illness fit pattern of poisoning by radioactive materials and were similar to the symptoms of Nikolai Khokhlov, Roman Tsepov
Roman Tsepov
Roman Igorevich Tsepov Roman Igorevich Tsepov Roman Igorevich Tsepov (Russian: Роман Игоревич Цепов, (July 22, 1962, Kolpino, Leningrad Oblast, USSR – September 24, 2004, Saint-Petersburg) was a Saint Petersburg businessman and confidant to Vladimir Putin during Putin's work at the Saint Petersburg...
, and Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
. According to then alive Litvinenko and news reports, the death of Yuri Shchekochikhin was a politically-motivated assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
Investigative journalism and political career
Shchekochikhin graduated from the Journalism Department of Moscow State UniversityMoscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
in 1975. He worked as an investigative journalist
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
at Komsomolskaya Pravda
Komsomolskaya Pravda
Komsomolskaya Pravda is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper, founded on March 13th, 1925. It is published by "Izdatelsky Dom Komsomolskaya Pravda" .- History :...
(1972–1980) and Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and Soviet Union.- Overview :...
(1980–1996), and then as a deputy editor of the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
(from 1996). Beginning in the 1990s, he published many articles critical of the First
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
s, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses in the Russian army
Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...
, state corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, and other social issues.
In Summer 1988 Shchekochikhin has published interview with a lieutenant colonel of militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
Aleksander Gurov, in which existence of organized crime in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was first publicly stated. That brought fame to both Gurov (who became the head of 6-th Agency of MVD of USSR which struggled against organized crime) and Shchekochikhin.
Yuri Shchekochikhin began his political career in 1990, when he was elected as a representative to the Congress of People's Deputies. He was elected to the Russian State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
from the liberal Yabloko
Yabloko
The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
party in 1995. He was a member of a Duma committee on the problems of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, and was a UN expert on the problems of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. He was a vocal opponent of the First
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
s.
Since early 1995 he was an author and host of an investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
program called "Special Team" on ORT
Ort
Ort or ORT may refer to:*World ORT, a non-governmental organization whose mission is the advancement of Jewish people**ORT Argentina, a non-government organization devoted to education in Argentina...
, Russian television's first channel (that time owned by Boris Berezovsky). In October 1995 heads of the channel closed the program. According to Shchekochikhin, the reason was an episode called "For Motherland! For mafia!", which was devoted to the Chechen War unleashed in his opinion by "leading banks of Russia".
In 2000 he accused Russia's Deputy PM Ilya Klebanov
Ilya Klebanov
Ilya Iosifovich Klebanov is a Russian politician. He currently is the Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation....
of covering up the fact that Russia did not have the resources to attempt a rescue of the Kursk submarine crew. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/926105.stm
From 2002, Shchekochikhin was a member of the Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev is a Russian human rights activist and politician and a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner.- Early career and arrest :...
Commission, which investigated allegations that the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings
Russian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 people and injuring 651. The explosions occurred in Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and...
had been orchestrated by the Russian Federal Security Service
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
(FSB) to generate support for the war http://www.eng.terror99.ru/publications/107.htm.
One of Shchekochikhin's last articles before his death was "Are we Russia or KGB of Soviet Union?"http://ys.novayagazeta.ru/text/2003-01-27.shtml It described such issues as the refusal of the FSB to explain to the Russian Parliament what poison gas was applied during the Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 by some 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the...
, and work of secret services from Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, which operated with impunity in Moscow against Russian citizens of Turkoman origin.
He also tried to investigate the Three Whales Corruption Scandal
Three Whales Corruption Scandal
The Three Whales Corruption Scandal is a major corruption scandal in Russia involving several furniture companies and federal government bodies which has unfolded since 2000.-2000 smuggling investigation :...
and criminal activities of FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
officers related to money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
through the Bank of New York
Bank of New York
The Bank of New York was a global financial services company established in 1784 by the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. It existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007...
and illegal actions of Yevgeny Adamov
Yevgeny Adamov
Yevgeny Olegovich Adamov was the head of the Russian atomic energy ministry, MinAtom. He was appointed by President Boris Yeltsin in 1998 and ousted by President Vladimir Putin in 2001.Adamov, a nuclear physicist, then joined the Dollezhal Institute....
, a former Russian Minister of Nuclear Energy http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/45n/n45n-s04.shtml http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/45n/n45n-s00.shtml. The case of Three Whales was under the personal control of President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
http://ys.novayagazeta.ru/text/2003-06-02.shtml. In June 2003, Shchekochikhin contacted the FBI and got an American visa to discuss the case with US authorities http://www.yabloko.ru/Publ/2006/2006_06/060620_novg_shekoch.html. However, he never made it to the USA because of his sudden death. Some Russian media claimed that Putin has issued an order to discharge 19 high-ranking FSB officers involved in this case in September 2006 as part of a Kremlin power struggle, but all these officers still continue to work in their FSB positions http://www.grani.ru/Politics/Russia/President/m.114307.html.
Death
Shchekochikhin died suddenly on July 3, 2003 after a 16 day mysterious illnesshttp://www.yabloko.ru/Publ/2006/2006_06/060620_novg_shekoch.html. It was officially declared that he died from an allergic Lyell's syndrome. His medical treatment and his post-mortem took place at the Central Clinical Hospital, which is "tightly controlled by the Russian Federal Security Service
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
because it treats top-ranking Russian officials". His relatives were denied an official medical report about the cause of his illness, and were forbidden to take specimens of his tissues for an independent medical investigation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/6324241.stm. Journalists of Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
managed to send his tissue specimens to "major foreign specialists". The experts did not reach any definite conclusion. This caused widespread speculation about the cause of his death, especially since another member of the Kovalev commission, Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Yushenkov
Sergei Yushenkov was a liberal Russian politician well known for his uncompromising struggle for democracy, rapid free market economic reforms, and higher human rights standards in Russia...
, was assassinated the same year http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2957823.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2958997.stm, and the legal counsel and investigator of the commission, Mikhail Trepashkin
Mikhail Trepashkin
Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin, is a Moscow attorney and former FSB colonel who was invited by MP Sergei Kovalev to assist in an independent inquiry of the Russian apartment bombings in September 1999 – the atrocities that followed Dagestan war and were one of the triggers for the Second Chechen...
, was arrested by Russian authorities.http://eng.trepashkin.ru/ http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460132006?open&of=ENG-2U4
Some news reports drew parallels between the poisonings of Shchekochikhin, Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
, and president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
’s former bodyguard Roman Tsepov
Roman Tsepov
Roman Igorevich Tsepov Roman Igorevich Tsepov Roman Igorevich Tsepov (Russian: Роман Игоревич Цепов, (July 22, 1962, Kolpino, Leningrad Oblast, USSR – September 24, 2004, Saint-Petersburg) was a Saint Petersburg businessman and confidant to Vladimir Putin during Putin's work at the Saint Petersburg...
, who died in a similar way in St. Petersburg in September 2004. Others noted Lecha Islamov, a Chechen rebel, who died in a Russian prison in 2004. “All three cases of poisoning – of Islamov, Shchekochikhin and Litvinenko – are united not only by the clinical picture, which is identical even in terms of the details, but also by the fact that the traces of the poisoners clearly point to one address: Moscow, Lubyanka (FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
headquarters),” according to Chechenpress
Chechenpress
State Information Agency Chechenpress is the news agency of the Chechen separatists who proclaim themselves to be the representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
report written by Zelimkhan Khadzhiev.
Last book and publications
Shchekochikhin's last published book was Slaves of the KGB: 20th Century. The Religion of Betrayal, telling the real stories of some of the many people forcibly recruited by the Russian KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
(the domestic operations of which later became the FSB) to work as undercover informers or agents. These people virtually became their KGB controllers' slaves, betraying their relatives, close friends and colleagues. When he died, he had not finished working on a book about the 20th Century wars in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
.
In an interview he gave just before his death, he said
Investigation
On the request of the Novaya GazetaNovaya Gazeta
Novaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
newspaper staff the Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia opened the investigation of his death anew on October 27, 2007.. In April 2008 an Investigative Committee official said that there would be another test carried out on his tissue to ascetain whether there had been a case of poisoning.. The Prosecutor General of Russia
Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russian Federation ....
has closed the criminal case in April 2009 after the conducted examination has failed to prove poisoning or a violent death.
English
- Obituary - The Guardian
- Mysterious deaths of Kremlin critics - International Herald Tribune
- Yuri Shchekochikhin: A Tribute - Demokratizatsiya
- YURII SHCHEKOCHIKHIN: HOW LONG CAN ONE WRITE ABOUT THE SAME THING? - by Virginie Coulloudon, RFE/RL, 16 July 2003.
- Russia: High-Profile Killings, Attempted Killings In The Post-Soviet Period - by REF/RL, October 19, 2006
- Prosecutors open probe into 2003 death of Moscow reporter statement by Committee to Protect JournalistsCommittee to Protect JournalistsThe Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
, October 30, 2007 - Kremlin, Inc. Why are Vladimir Putin’s opponents dying? by Michael Specter, The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, January 29, 2007 - Thallium Poisons U.S. Mother, Daughter in Moscow By Bradley Cook and Henry Meyer, Bloomberg L.P.Bloomberg L.P.Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...
Russian
- Site dedicated to Yuri Shchekochikhin in Novaya Gazeta
- Biography and publications
- Personal site of Yuri Shekochikhin
- I have learned to always tell the truth and be afraid of nothing interview with Yuri Shchekochikhin
- Letters from the Presidents Congratulations from Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
and Vladimir PutinVladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
on his 50th birthday in 2000 - Discussion about Yuri Shchekochikhin, Echo of MoscowEcho of MoscowEcho of Moscow is a Russian radio station based in Moscow, broadcasting in many Russian cities, in some of the former-Soviet republics , and via the Internet, which some observers describe as "the last bastion of free media in Russia"...
- Last Russian Saint by Vitaly Popov
- Shchekochikhin about bombing of Chechen governmental building in Grozny
Books
- Slaves of KGB. 20th Century. The religion of betrayal (Рабы ГБ. XX век. Религия предательства), Moscow, 1999.
See also
- Human rights in RussiaHuman rights in RussiaThe rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by Chapter 2 of the Constitution adopted in 1993.Russia is the signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has also ratified a number of other international human rights instruments, including the...
- List of journalists killed in Russia
- Artyom BorovikArtyom BorovikArtyom Genrikhovich Borovik was a prominent Russian journalist and media magnate. He was the son of a Soviet journalist, Genrikh Borovik, who worked for many years as a foreign correspondent in the U.S.-Journalism:...
- Alexander LitvinenkoAlexander LitvinenkoAlexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
- Anna PolitkovskayaAnna PolitkovskayaAnna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
- Galina StarovoitovaGalina StarovoitovaGalina Vasilyevna Starovoitova was a Russian politician and ethnographer known for her work to protect ethnic minorities and promote democratic reforms in Russia.- Early life and academic career :...
- Sergei YushenkovSergei YushenkovSergei Yushenkov was a liberal Russian politician well known for his uncompromising struggle for democracy, rapid free market economic reforms, and higher human rights standards in Russia...