''Chernovik'' (russian: Черновик for "Rough Draft") is a weekly newspaper published by Svoboda Slova (translated as "Freedom of Speech") and based in the

Republic of Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia sit ...

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

region,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

has described it as "Dagestan's leading independent newspaper" and the newspaper with the third largest circulation in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

Leadership

The newspaper was founded by Gadzhimurat Kamalov in 2003. Those serving as editor-in-chief include Kamalov (2005-2006), Nadira Isayeva, and Biyakai Magomedov (present).

Prosecution

From 2008 to 2011, following a series of articles critical of the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

tactics, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Nadira Isayeva, was involved in a high-profile prosecution for "inciting hatred toward law enforcement officials" and other charges. ''Chernovik'' reporters Magomed Magomedov, Artur Mamayev and Timur Mustafayev were also charged, along with their lawyer Biyakai Magomedov. International press freedom organizations ARTICLE 19, Reporters Without Borders, and the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

(CPJ) all protested the charges, the latter awarding Isayeva a 2010 International Press Freedom Award for risking her "freedom and security" for her reporting. All five were later acquitted following a trial Isayeva described as "a test for the institution of press freedom" in Dagestan.

Murder of Gadzhimurat Kamalov

On 15 December 2011 Gadzhimurat Kamalov was assassinated as he left Chernovik's offices.''Investigative journalist shot dead in Russian province''
Telegraph, retrieved 16/12/2011 CPJ described his death as "a lethal blow to press freedom" and "a massive loss for independent journalism in the North Caucasus, Russia's most dangerous place for reporters". Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

in Moscow, said: "Kamalov's death is terrible and it will have a monstrous effect on the free press in Dagestan. He had many enemies because of Chernovik's searching reports on corrupt businesses and the transgressions of the local

siloviki In the politics of Russia, Russian political lexicon, a ''silovik'' ( rus, силови́к, p=sʲɪlɐˈvʲik; plural: ''siloviki'', rus, силовики́, p=sʲɪləvʲɪˈkʲi) is a person who works in the Russian Armed Forces, the Police ...

aw enforcement bodies" Lokshina blamed the murder on the Russian authorities' governing of the region: "Even if there was a personal aspect to his murder then it became possible because of the atmosphere of complete impunity which the Russian authorities have allowed to flourish there." Yulia Latynina, an expert on the Caucasus region interviewed by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, said, "Just as nna

Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...

's death meant the loss of information about Chechnya, Kamalov's death will mean that to a large extent we will stop to understand what's going on in Dagestan. People will simply be scared to write anything."

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Russian-language newspapers published in Russia Free Media Awards winners Newspapers of Dagestan