The Right Honourable Boris Gryzlov

Minister of Internal Affairs

Moscow, Russia

General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov

General Prosecutor’s Office

Moscow, Russia

C/o Permanent Representative to UN

Email: russia@un.int

17 October 2003

Dear Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express our outrage at the murder of journalist Aleksei Sidorov.

According to reports, on the evening of 9 October Mr Sidorov, the editor-in-chief of the independent daily Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye, was murdered in the city of Togliatti. Two unidentified assailants stabbed Mr Sidorov several times in the chest as he was approaching the apartment building where he lived with his family. Mr Sidorov is the second editor-in-chief of Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye to be murdered in the last 18 months. His predecessor, Valery Ivanov, was shot at point-blank range in April 2002.

We are seriously concerned that Mr Sidorov was killed because of his work as a journalist. Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye is known for its investigative reporting on organised crime, government corruption and shady corporate deals. Mr Sidorov had reportedly recently received unspecified threats in retaliation for his work.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that a thorough and impartial investigation into Mr Sidorov‚s murder is carried out and that those responsible are quickly brought to justice. We urge you to do everything in your power to protect journalists who are exercising their right to inform.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Seok Hyun Hong

President

World Association of Newspapers

Gloria Brown Anderson

President

World Editors Forum

cc: Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO