Date

23/05/2006  

First

Vyacheslav  

Surname

AKATOV  

Sex/Age

M, 37  

Incident

homicide  

Motive

nJ  

Place

flat  

Job

journalist  

Medium

TV  

Federal District Plus

CENTRAL  

Street, Town, Region

Mytyshchi, Moscow Region  

Freelance

no  

Local/National

Moscow, Delovaya Moskva  

Other Ties

 

Cause of Death

murder, beaten  

Legal Qualification

105.1 (murder) with 64 (Imposition of nmore lenient punishment)  

Impunity

trial, conviction, 11 October 2006  

GDF, 281

Vyacheslav Akatov, "Delovaya Moskva" special reporter, has been killed in the Moscow satellite town of Mytishchi. The exact date of the tragedy is still unknown. His body with a fatal skull injury was found in the apartment he rented in Mytishchi on 28 May.

Forensic medics say Mr. Akatov, 37, had been dead for at least five days. The police are looking into several interpretations, ranging from “accidental death resulting from a private conflict”. Colleagues do not think it was a murder linked with the victim’s professional activities because Mr. Akatov had not conducted any independent investigations.

The TVC channel’s website says the journalist was reported missing since 22 May when he left his office at the end of the working day with a bunch of video cassettes in his bag. He was seen for the last time that day near the Alexeyevskaya and VDNKh metro stations at about 8 pm. Akatov was due to travel to Belarus the following day to shoot a TV report there.

Mr. Akatov moved to Moscow from Vologda and is likely to be buried in his home town. The TVC daily program "Delovaya Moskva", which features the Russian capital’s business news, has won several prestigious awards.

[Radio Moscow Echo report, 29 May]