Russian editor jailed for five years

A Moscow journalist has been jailed for five years on charges of inciting ethnic hatred in reports about the conflict in Chechnya. Human rights activists and lawyers say the sentence on Boris Stomakhin, editor of Radikalnaya Politika, a Moscow-based monthly newspaper, is unprecedented in its severity. "Putting people in prison for words is unfathomable. Some get less prison time for murder," said Boris Timoshenko, head of the monitoring centre at the Glasnost Protection Foundation. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the verdict. Stomakhin, frequently called the presence of federal troops in Chechnya an "occupation", and harshly criticised President Vladimir Putin. (Via Moscow Times)