Russia: Putin Awards Opposition Journalist
Posted by Info on 02/11/2011
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced state awards to opposition journalists including Mikhail Beketov, who was left disabled after a severe beating following a confrontation with the Khimki city administration about a Putin-backed road construction.
The move comes two weeks after a U.S. State Department official traveled to Khimki to speak with local activists, promising to “redouble” U.S. efforts to press Russia on human rights.
The list also includes Yelena Petrovskaya of the liberal Novaya Gazeta newspaper; Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal and a contributor to The Moscow Times; and the outgoing editor-in-chief of the Vokrug Sveta travel magazine, Sergei Parkhomenko.
The award comes with a cash prize will be handed out on Jan. 13, Russian Press Day, which marks the date that the first Russian newspaper was published on Peter the Great’s orders in 1713.
