Beslan Without the Vultures: the Follow-Up

The three-part article published May 24-26 in Moskovsky komsomolets about what really happened at Beslan on September 1 2004 has had predictable consequences. Lenta.ru reports that the author of the article has now been interrogated by a state investigator:

On the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Moskovsky Komsomolets journalist Aleksandr Minkin reported on the interrogation of Svetlana Meteleva, author of the article entitled "Beslan without the vultures" [Beslan bez grifov]. According to Minkin, an investigator is demanding that the woman journalist divulge her information sources.

Minkin described how he became a witness to the beginning of this questioning. "The investigator came to the editorial office and suggested to Svetlana Meteleva that she should agree to divulge her sources in an amicable fashion, saying 'we will find them, we will punish them'," Minkin reported. He added that the investigator came to the editorial office "apparently in an informal capacity", and did not take any written statement.

As Minkin says, Meteleva's article contains no secret information. "Just now the trial of the only surviving hostage-taker is in progress, and the court is open to the public. It's hard to understand why sources are being sought, as these materials are being heard in the criminal case," the journalist said.

According to the existing law regarding the media, journalists are not obliged to reveal their sources of information. Minkin said that the investigator threatened to open a criminal case if Meteleva refuses to name her sources.

The article "Beslan without the Vultures" was published in three issues of Moskovsky komsomolets which appeared on May 24, 25 and 26 this year. According to Minkin, the article "describes in detail what happened in Beslan at the moment of the seizure and assault and who was to blame for the fact that it all ended in the deaths of hundreds of people."

(via chechnya-sl)