Two Novaya Gazeta contributors get death threats

Two contributors to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper received death threats on 24 November. One was working on the situation in the North Caucasus. The other was researching Anna Politkovskaya's death. For one of the journalists, the threats were accompanied by an SMS text message mentioning his home address. Novaya Gazeta's reaction was to make this information public by posting a note on its website. Serguei Sokolov, one of the deputy editors, also spoke about it on radio Moscow Echo, saying “publicity is the best protection for journalists.” In the same Moscow Echo report, Glasnost Defence Foundation president Alexei Simonov said: “These are not vague threats. Similar threats to Anna Politkovskaya were tragically carried out. This makes me want to take up guard outside Novaya Gazeta with an automatic rifle. But I don't have an automatic rifle and anyway, it would not save anyone. You have to leave it to the police.” Simonov believes the threats are linked to the investigation into Politkovskaya's 7 October murder in Moscow.