![]() The day after the attack, as The Moscow Times reported, 'Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country's Interior Ministry to take the case under control. He asked the ministry to probe into the circumstances of the incident and report on what happened. His statement came several hours after presidential aide Dmitry Peskov called an attack on the journalists “absolute hooliganism,” expressing “hope” Ingush law enforcement agencies would take “effective measures” to find those responsible.' For their part, Chechen authorities denied involvement in the attack, describing it as a 'publicity move' to promote the work of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture. In August 2016 Human Rights Watch issued a report on Chechnya which described journalism as 'the most dangerous profession' in the region. Photo: Logo of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Source: 'Russian Police Abandon Investigation Into Attack on Journalists in Chechnya,' The Moscow Times, 15 February 2017'Kremlin Reacts to Attack on Journalists in Ingushetia,' The Moscow Times, 10 March 2016 'Russia: Pre-election Crackdown in Chechnya. Sweeping Repression Against Critics,' Human Rights Watch, 30 August 2016 |