During the last 3 years the Trust has supported 10 freelance journalists who have been attacked as a result of their work in Eurasian countries.

We were delighted to receive these pictures of Mikhail Beketov. They show him up and about, walking and looking well.  Thanks to Anna Artemeva for sending them to us. 

Mikhail's story

Ex-paratroop officer turned journalist, Mikhail Beketov, had worked as a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Chechnya before setting up his newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda (Khimki Truth) in a suburban town near Moscow in 2006. He financed the paper himself and began to write regularly about what he saw as corruption among local officials. 

Two topics, in particular, concerned Mikhail and resonated with the local paper's readers: the demolition of a monument that contained the remains of Soviet fighters to make way for road-widening; and the Khimki administrations' decision to deforest a vast area of woodland to build a freeway connecting Moscow and St Petersburg.  Mikhail suspected that officials were secretly profiting from its construction and, after calling for the resignation of the city's leadership, he began to receive threats.  His car was bombed, his dog was killed and, in one of his final editorials, Mikhail asked: "What is next for me?"

On 13 November 2008, Mikhail was discovered unconscious in a pool of blood in the front garden of his home. Brutally beaten and left for dead his skull and legs were broken and his fingers smashed.  He spent three weeks in a coma, had seven surgeries, including leg and finger amputations, and suffered damage to his brain and trachea. His voicebox severely damaged, he has not spoken since the attack.

Beketov's attackers have never been brought to justice. Two months after his assault, the journalist's lawyer Stanislav Markelov, was murdered in downtown Moscow.  

Beketov was left physically and mentally devastated by his attack - unable to walk or talk and with fingers missing on both hands he has been - literally - silenced by his assailants and has not worked since. 

However, his recovery, whilst slow, has been steady.  The Rory Peck Trust is one of several organisations supporting the journalist with hospital and medical treatment and he is now living at home with a carer, walking in his courtyard and learning how to write.  He is putting on weight and beginning to resemble again the big, brawny journalist that he once was.  His friends are hopeful that one day he will regain his speech. 

In the meantime we are in touch with Mikhail and will be helping him financially with the next stage of his recovery. 

Links:

• Mikhail Beketov website set up by friends and colleagues (in Russian)
• New York Times article - Moscow Journalists Under Attack
• Guardian article on Beketov