MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. Farewell ceremonies for Russian journalists Kirill Radchenko and Alexander Rastorguyev, who were killed in the Central African Republic (CAR), will take place on August 7, while the family of the third slain journalist Orkhan Dzhemal plans to bury him on Tuesday, a source close to the families and friends of the reporters told TASS.
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"A farewell ceremony for Kirill (Radchenko) will take place tomorrow at 11:00," the source said, adding that the date of Radchenko’s funeral had not been determined yet. "He will probably be cremated so the funeral will be held later," he noted.
Screenwriter Susanna Baranzhiyeva, a friend of director Rastorguyev, told TASS earlier that he would be buried in Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye cemetery on August 7. A farewell ceremony will take place on the same day.
Dzhemal’s friend journalist Maxim Shevchenko was hopeful that all the necessary documents would be ready by Tuesday and Muslim funeral rites would be performed at the Moscow Cathedral Mosque on that day, while the funeral would take place in the Muslim sector of the Khovansky cemetery.
First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Russian Muftis Rushan Abbyasov confirmed that Dzhemal’s farewell ceremony was planned for August 7.
On Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that some documents had been lost during the transportation of the journalists’ bodies and the ministry was re-issuing them.
Russian journalists’ death
The Russian embassy in the Central African Republic said on July 31 that three men had been found dead near the city of Sibut (300 kilometers north of Bangui) on July 30. The Russian Foreign Ministry said later that the three had been carrying press cards in the names of Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev and Orkhan Dzhemal.
The Russian Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into the murder. Editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy (or Echo of Moscow) radio station Alexei Venediktov earlier told TASS that journalist Orkhan Dzhemal, cameraman Kirill Radchenko and director Alexander Rastorguyev had been working on a documentary in the Central African Republic.
The slain journalists’ bodies were delivered to Russia overnight into August 5. Russian Investigative Committee Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said that the committee would conduct forensic tests before handing the bodies over to the journalists’ families.