The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have sent a message of solidarity and support for their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), as it prepares for a moving solidarity event to remember fallen colleagues.

This Sunday, 8 September, thousands of people, including RUJ leaders and members, journalists and writers, will unite for the International Journalists' Solidarity Day in Moscow, supported by UNESCO, a powerful day of demonstrations and events to commemorate colleagues who have been killed, stand up for freedom of expression and strengthen solidarity in their struggle to combat impunity against journalists in Russia.

To mark this vitally important day, now it its third year, the RUJ and the famous Russian orchestra, led by Yury Bashmet, will hold a memorial music concert in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory to pay tribute to those journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

"It is with great humility that we remember those of our fellow journalists who have died in their line of duty. Russian journalists have paid a heavy price for their courage, professionalism and determination to expose the truth regardless of the risks to their safety," said IFJ President Jim Boumelha.

"The IFJ and EFJ stand side by side with the Russian Union of Journalists in its efforts to bring justice to the victims and to support their families."

During this year's concert the RUJ will give the special Politkovskaya award to Olga Allenova. Olga is an investigative journalist who works for the Russian newspaper Kommersant in the North Caucasus.

The award, given to a journalist who has excelled in the field of press freedom and human rights, is named after Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya. Anna, known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict, was shot and killed in the lift of her block of flats in 2006, an unsolved murder that continues to attract international attention.

"We stand alongside the IFJ to support the RUJ on this important day," said EFJ President Mogens Blicher-Bjerregård. "Journalists in Russia will only be free and the profession only safe when those that have threatened, maimed or killed are held to account.

"We look to the political leaders, the police and the judiciary to make good on their promises to ensure justice is served, and we ask our journalist brothers and sisters to keep alive the memory of those that have died, and to always strive to live by the standards that they have set."

For more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 17
The IFJ represents more than 600.000 journalists in 134 countries