Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) mourns the sudden death of colleague Nail Khisamiev, 55, a Prague-based journalist who died on June 11, 2018.
Khisamiev first joined RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, known locally as Radio Azatliq, in 1993, first as a freelance correspondent in Russia's western Siberian Tiumen region, and later in the Tatarstan capital, Kazan.
He was known for his excellent journalistic skills, and “his devotion to RFE/RL's mission to promote ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity, and to defend real and independent journalism in the region in which he worked,” said Tatar-Bashkir Service Director Rim Gilfanov about his death.
Gilfanov said he will be remembered for his open heart and spirit, which inspired his colleagues, and as “someone who energized others with his good mood and optimism.”
Khisamiev died while on holiday in western Africa’s Cabo Verde.