RFE/RL and VOA Experts Available to Discuss Chechnya
Recent developments in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation indicate the two leading suspects are brothers who immigrated to the United States from the North Caucasus region of Russia.
For insight into this unfolding story, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America offer interviews with expert journalists who specialize in the North Caucasus region.
Aslan Doukaev is the director of the North Caucasus Service for RFE/RL, one of the most violent and dangerous regions in the world where media freedom and journalists remain under severe threat. An ethnic Chechen, Doukaev survived the siege of Grozny during the first Chechen war in 1994, but lost many members of his family.
Tel: +420-221-122-563 (Note: Six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time)
Cell: +420-724-145-257
Email: doukaeva@rferl.org
Claire Bigg, who authored this profile of Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev, is a senior correspondent with RFE/RL focusing on countries of the former Soviet Union with an emphasis on Russia. A fluent Russian speaker who lived in Russia for seven years, Bigg has reported for numerous international publications including AFP, Reuters, The Guardian, and Le Monde. She reported extensively on the 2004 Beslan massacre, as well as the exhumation of mass graves in Chechnya, and lawyers under attack in the North Caucasus.
Tel: +420-221-123-648 (Note: Six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time)
Cell: +420-774-954-345
Email: biggc@rferl.org
Robert Coalson has been with RFE/RL since 2002, covering political, economic, and social stories from throughout the broadcast regions, particularly Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. He worked as a reporter and editor for many years in Russia with English language media outlets, including The Moscow Times and The St. Petersburg Times. He is fluent in Russian and holds a master’s degree in Russian literature and history from Cornell University.
Tel: +420-223-650 (Note: Six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time)
Cell: +420-721-884-677
Email: coalsonr@rferl.org
Fatima Tlisova is a leading US-based expert on the region who works for Voice of America’s Russian service in Washington, DC, where she covers the North Caucasus and topics including Islamic radicalism, corruption, and racism. She also writes the blog “Pressa pod pressom” (“Press Under Pressure”) about press freedom in Russia. She lived in Watertown, MA from 2007 to 2010 while on a fellowship at Harvard University. Before coming to the United States, Tlisova had been editor-in-chief of the REGNUM News Agency in the North Caucasus, reported from the region for the Associated Press, and served as a special correspondent for Russia’s Novaya Gazeta and a reporter for RFE/RL.
Cell: +1-617-877-5485.
BOOKERS AND PRODUCERS — To schedule an interview with Fatima Tlisova, contact Kyle King at kking@voanews.com or +1-202-203-4959. For interviews with any of RFE/RL’s experts, contact Karisue Wyson in Washington (wysonk@rferl.org; +1-202-457-6917), or Emily Thompson in Prague (thompsone@rferl.org; +420-602-279-556 Note: Six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time) .