Robbery at Jewish Newspaper in Moscow - 07.30.2004

Russia's Oldest Jewish Newspaper Robbed;
Vows To Keep Publishing


Ha'aretz - 07.30.04

MosNews - 08.04.04

Jerusalem Post - 08.04.04

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 Ha'aretz - 07.30.2004

Ha'aretz

Burglars break into Jewish newspaper office in Moscow

By Yossi Melman

Burglars have broken into the office of a Jewish newspaper in Moscow and stolen computer hard drives and documents. Details of the break-in, which apparently took place over the weekend, were only released on Wednesday. Yabraskaya Gazeta, considered the only independent Jewish newspaper in Russia, was forced to postpone publishing this week's issue as a result of the break-in. Employees of the paper said they weren't sure exactly when the burglary took place, but think it occurred over the weekend.

This is not the first burglary to hit the Jewish paper. Two weeks ago, two scanners were stolen from the office. However, while that burglary may have been for financial gain, this weekend's theft appeared to be an attempt to garner information. The identity of the burglars is unknown.

Among other things, the newspaper publishes articles and columns written by former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and American Jewish columnist Charles Krauthammer.

Russian officials were not immediately available for comment.

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 MosNews - 08.04.2004

MosNews


International Jewish Newspaper Burglarized in Moscow 


The editorial offices of Moscow’s International Jewish Newspaper (Mezhdunarodnaya Yevreiskaya Gazeta) were burglarized over the weekend, with unknown robbers making off with computers and documents, the independent Newsru.com news site reported.

Only the monitors remain in the office — and with all the archives, hard disks, and editorial documents missing, the paper was forced to skip an issue this week. Editors are working from home to insure the paper comes out on time next week, chief editor Tatyana Andriyevskaya told Newsru.com.

Newspaper staff say they are unsure when exactly the break-in occurred, but suspect it was during the night over the weekend. Two weeks ago, robbers broke in and took two scanners from the office.

There are no suspects in the incident.

The journalists, meanwhile, do not intend to change their editorial policy and will publish the paper as usual, Andriyevskaya said.

The paper publishes such well-known political commentators as Henry Kissinger and Charles Krauthammer. It says it is the only independent Jewish newspaper in the country, unaffiliated with any Jewish organization.


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 Jerusalem Post - 08.04.2004

Jerusalem Post

Moscow Jewish paper defies break-ins 

By AMIR MIZROCH

The editor of Russia's only independent Jewish newspaper on Wednesday vowed to continue publishing his paper despite two "suspicious" break-ins this past month.

In a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post, Tankred Golenpolski, founder of the Moscow-based Evreyskaya Gazeta (The International Jewish Newspaper) said almost all of the paper's necessary equipment had disappeared in the burglaries.

"The first time we were burgled it was quite minor. They took some computers and some telephones and scanners. Nothing serious. We thought it was just some kids," Golenpolski, an Israeli citizen, said.

This Sunday, burglars broke into the newspaper's offices and "almost wiped the place clean." "They took six computers, all sorts of technology, faxes, TV sets, radios, telephones – the lot," Golenpolski said.

This time, however, some other, more valuable things were missing too. "All of a sudden we noticed we didn't find our books, our business cards, our contacts, our notebooks, and telephone books. We lost our archives that were on CD ROMs," the editor said.

The newspaper's management went to the Moscow Police, which told Golenpolski that the case was criminal, and probably the work of hooligans. Police suggested that Golenpolski hire a watchman to ward off burglars. There are no suspects in the incident, chief editor Tatyana Andriyevskaya told Newsru.com.

"I cannot blame anybody, but I didn't like the fact that if you come to steal, you steal computers and other equipment. Why would they steal our information?" Golenpolski said.

Golenpolski added that some of the newspaper's upcoming articles disappeared from their filing cabinets.

"Papers were strewn on the floor, and some financial documents were also missing," he said. "If these were simple thieves, then why did they want to take our archives, our telephone books, etc.?"

Golenpolski said he did not want to blame anyone specific, and made it very clear he believes the break-ins were not anti-Semitically motivated.

"I sincerely hope that this is a purely criminal case, but I don't like certain moments which push me to think about other things. We report on politics in Russia and we take a serious stand on the Yukos issue, the freedom of speech issue, and we are critical of the regime when we need to be. But harassment from the regime on media people who write critically of the regime is not uncommon in Russia," Golenpolski said.

The Evreyskaya Gazeta publishes such well-known political commentators as Henry Kissinger and Charles Krauthammer.

Transparency International, a non-governmental organization devoted to combating corruption, ranks Russia alongside Colombia and the Philippines as the most dangerous countries for journalists investigating corruption.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, there have been 12 cases of harassment and violence toward journalists in Russia in 2004. Some of these cases have involved the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the press freedom organization reported on its Web site.

Golenpolski said he thinks he knows who is behind the incidents, but that he doesn't have solid proof. "Even if I did have solid proof, I wouldn't tell anybody about it, because I would not want the only independent and political Jewish newspaper to disappear," he said.

Golenpolski said the newspaper was short of money to hire security and added that he was looking for financial help. In the meantime the newspaper will publish next Monday after missing its first issue since it was established 15 years ago.

"Everyone has a computer at home, and everybody will be working from home. We are going to publish, whether everyone likes it or not," he said.

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