BRUSSELS, Sept 2: The International Federation of Journalists called on Tuesday for an independent probe into the killing of a Russian web journalist and prominent critic, Magomed Yevloyev, while in police custody.

“The death of a leading journalist in police custody raises red flags, especially in light of the incredible violence against Russian journalists in the past two decades,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said in a statement.

“Only a full and independent investigation into Magomed’s death can establish what really happened while he was in police custody and why he was arrested in the first place,” he added.

Yevloyev, a prominent opponent of the pro-Kremlin president of Ingushetia, a mostly Muslim region bordering Chechnya, died on Sunday after being shot in the head in a police car in the Ingush capital Narzan.

Prosecutors have opened a preliminary manslaughter investigation into his death.—AFP