What does the daily life of an investigative journalist look like in a country where independent journalism is a sure recipe for threats, censorship, prosecution and even murder? Meet Russian reporter Roman Anin. (Panama Papers, Novaya Gazeta)

In Putin’s Russia of 2016 the space for critical voices has shrunk considerably. Journalists, human rights activists and lawyers are harassed, intimidated, threatened and prosecuted. What impact does this have on the state of independent journalism in Russia? And how does it affect the traditional role of journalism as the fourth estate?

Ten years after the murder on the renowned Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who relentlessly criticized Vladimir Putin and his policy in Chechnya, Eva Cukier (director Russia and Eastern Europe for the NRC) will interview Anna’s prizewinning successor Roman Anin about truth and propaganda, press freedom and censorship, the rules of the Kremlin and the professional hazards of reporting in Russia.

We will start the evening with a spoken column by Jeroen Akkermans. As a correspondent for RTL news, Akkermans has been traveling Germany, Eastern Europe and the Balkans since 2001. In 1994 he has received the Dick Scherpenzeel Award for his reports on the war in Chechnya.

About Roman Anin 

Roman Anin is the head of investigative section of Moscow-based paper Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent newspapers in Russia.

Anin’s investigations have focused on government and military corruption. He has produced a series of articles on a criminal organization linked to assassinations of business leaders – a gang led by the son of General Vladimir Shamanov, head of Russia’s Airborne Forces. He has also written about corruption among politicians and businessmen involved in construction contracts for the Sochi Olympic Games.

Besides this Anin has worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on tobacco lobbying and corporate corruption stories; he has contributed to the Panama Papers research and is a member of Reuters’ investigative team.

About this program

This program is organized by Amnesty International in cooperation with the Humanity House. It is organized to commemorate the murder of Anna Politkovskaja, a Russian reporter and predecessor of Roman Anin at the Novaya Gazeta, which happened ten years ago.