SHAFIG  AMRAKHOV

News Organization: RIA 51

Died: 2009

Location: RUSSIA

Amrakhov, the editor of a news Web site, was shot in the head repeatedly in his apartment building in Murmansk on Dec. 30, 2008. The gun used in the attack fired rubber bullets, and local news reports said the intent appeared to be to intimidate rather than kill him. Amrakhov lapsed into a coma after surgery and died on Jan. 5, 2009. Police dismissed his journalism as a motive, but refused to reveal another reason. In 2008, Amrakhov had protested a decision to deny him access to cover a press conference by then-President Vladimir Putin, and in 1997, he was attacked outside his apartment building.