MAKHACHKALA — A Dagestani court has acquitted journalists from an internationally respected newspaper in the Caucasus of charges of carrying extremist statements.
The case against Chernovik was started after the weekly published an article in 2008 that contained quotes from a leader of the Islamist insurgents.
A court in Makhachkala, where the paper is based, on Thursday acquitted editor Nadira Isayeva and four reporters of the charges. Some critics saw the charges as an attempt to retaliate against the newspaper for its articles about police corruption and brutality.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists media watchdog group last year gave Isayeva one of its International Press Freedom Awards.
(AP)
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