Journalist Shot Dead by Russian Cops

A Russian journalist known for his opposition views was fatally shot in the head after his arrest at an airport yesterday, reports the New York Tiimes. He was shot as he sat in a police car on his way to interrogation, according to officials. Authorities labeled the death of Magomed Yevloyev accidental and are opening an investigation. But human rights advocates called the shooting suspicious and expressed concern about a new era of crackdowns on dissent in Russia.

Yevloyev was arrested and killed in Ingushetia, an area in the North Caucasus near the border with Georgia. In recent days violence has spiked in the region. This weekend, a local government minister survived a bomb attack and two policemen were killed. Yevloyev was one of the few independent journalists in Ingushetia. Readers first followed his work on his own website, and later, when it was censored, on their cell phones.
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