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The assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist, took place on Saturday, 7 October 2006. She was well-known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and criticism of Russian president Putin. She authored several books about Chechen wars as well as Putin's Russia and received numerous prestigious international awards for her work. Her murder, widely perceived as a contract killing, sparked a strong international reaction.

Background

Politkovskaya strongly criticized policies of the Putin's administration. She wrote a book, Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy, critical of Putin's federal presidency, including his pursuit of the Second Chechen War. In this book she accused Putin and the Russian secret service FSB of stifling all civil liberties in order to establish a Soviet-style dictatorship, but admitted that "it is we who are responsible for Putin's policies": "Society has shown limitless apathy... As the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle. The KGB respects only the strong. The weak it devours. We of all people ought to know that." She also wrote that

"We are hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance. All we have left is the internet, where information is still freely available. For the rest, if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial - whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit."

"People often tell me that I am a pessimist, that I don't believe in the strength of the Russian people, that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that," she opens an essay titled Am I Afraid?, finishing it - and the book - with the words: "If anybody thinks they can take comfort from the 'optimistic' forecast, let them do so. It is certainly the easier way, but it is the death sentence for our grandchildren."

Earlier threats to her life

• While attending a conference on the freedom of press organized by Reporters Without Borders in Vienna in December 2005 Politkovskaya said: "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think. In fact, one can even get killed for giving me information. I am not the only one in danger. I have examples that prove it." She often received death threats as a result of her work; including being threatened with rape and experiencing a mock execution after being arrested by the military in Chechnya.

• While traveling to Beslan during the Beslan school hostage crisis to help in negotiations with the hostage-takers, Politkovskaya fell violently ill and lost consciousness after drinking tea. She had been reportedly poisoned, with some accusing the former Soviet secret police poison facility.

The murder

Politkovskaya was found shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow, Interfax and other Russian news agencies reported. Police said a Makarov pistol and four shell casings were found beside her body. Reports indicated a contract killing, as she was shot four times, once in the head. It was unclear at the time who ordered the killing.

The funeral was held on Tuesday, 10 October, at 2:30 p.m., at the Troyekurovsky Cemetery. Before Politkovskaya was laid to rest, more than 1,000 people filed past her coffin to pay their last respects. Dozens of Politkovskaya's colleagues, public figures and admirers of her work gathered at a cemetery on the outskirts of Moscow for the funeral. No high-ranking Russian officials could be seen at the ceremony.

Reaction

European Union and many governments condemned the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, well-known journalist and defender of freedom of expression in Russia. They called for a thorough investigation into the crime by Russian authorities.

Soon after her death, Yaroshevsky, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta where she worked, said: "The first thing that comes to mind is that Anna was killed for her professional activities. We don't see any other motive for this terrible crime." He said Politkovskaya gave an interview to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty last week in which she said she was a witness in a criminal case against Ramzan Kadyrov in connection with abductions in Chechnya - a case based on her reporting. In that same interview, she called Kadyrov the "Stalin of our days".

On 8 October 2006, hundreds rallied in downtown Moscow to protest the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and the recent crackdown on ethnic Georgians. The demonstration was described by the Moscow-based liberal Echo of Moscow radio station as "the largest protest rally of the opposition recently held in Russia." During the day following information about Politkovskaya's death, there was a demonstration and memorial consisting of 500 people in Moscow, as well as 300 people gathering in St. Petersburg. Further rallies and vigils took place in other Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Saratov and Krasnoyarsk, as well as London, Paris, New York, and Washington.

A day after the murder more than one thousand people (later estimation: over 3000) gathered at the Russian embassy in Helsinki, Finland to pay their respects to Politkovskaya (according to Helsingin Sanomat article published on October 22, there were about 3000 people). The demonstration was silent, with people holding candles. Two of Politkovskaya's books have been published in Finland as translated editions.

In october 2006 Vladimir Putin made a statement:

"This journalist was indeed a sharp critic of the present Russian authorities... but the degree of her influence over political life in Russia was extremely insignificant. She was well-known in journalistic circles, among human rights activists, in the West. I repeat, her influence over political life in Russian was minimal." And in my opinion murdering such a person certainly does much greater damage from the authorities’ point of view, authorities that she strongly criticized, than her publications ever did."

In an interview with Time Magazine on December 12 2007, President Putin said the murder was a provocation against the authorities and she was chosen and killed as a "sacral offering," but he said the authorities "would nevertheless do everything possible to complete the investigation." He reiterated that Politkovskaya did not "play any significant role in the political life of Russia" and called speculations about her being dangerous for Russian authorities "nonsense." Putin added that he respects unselfish and honest people regardless of whether they are politicians or journalists. "Truly independent people, who are unafraid of spoiling relationships with bosses and of losing their jobs, and who write exactly what they think, are very few," he said. European Union and many governments condemned the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, well-known journalist and defender of freedom of expression in Russia. They called for a thorough investigation into the crime by Russian authorities.

Case developments

In late August of 2007 police arrested ten suspects believed to have been involved in the murder. Prosecutor Yuri Chaika stated that the plotters aim was to start a crisis to destabilise Russia. The suspects included members of a Chechen organized crime group as well as a number of former FSB agents .

On August 28, 2007, Russia's Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika had a meeting with Vladimir Putin and FSB director Nikolai Patrushev, during which he made an official announcement that

"Our investigation has led us to conclude that only people living abroad could be interested in killing Politkovskaya," and that "Forces interested in de-stabilising the country, in stoking crisis...in discrediting the national leadership, provoking external pressure on the country, could be interested in this crime. Anna Politkovskaya knew who ordered her killing. She met him more than once."

Chaika also said that Politkovskaya's killers are probably connected with the murders of deputy Central Bank head Andrei Kozlov and U.S. journalist Paul Khlebnikov. The person noted by Chaika as organizer of the murder was unequivocally identified in the media as Boris Berezovsky The statement by Chaika was supported by Andrei Lugovoi, who had been indicted by British court with regard to the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning. Lugovoy said that Berezovsky had organized the murders of Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, and the attempted murder of Yelena Tregubova.

On March 28, 2008, it was reported that the suspected killer of journalist Anna Politkovskaya was identified. The suspect was not named, but the official, Vyacheslav Smirnov, said "all measures are being taken to find and detain him". It was later speculated that the suspect is 30-years old Chechen Rustam Makhmudov, a brother of Ibragim, Rustam and Gzhebrail Makhmudovs also arrested on suspicion on complicity to Politkovskaya assasination.

On April 3 2008, Investigating Committee of the Persecution Office of Russia Dmitry Dovgy (suspended of his duty under allegations of taking bribes, though the interview was taken before his suspension) told the press that he is convinced that "Politkovskaya's murder was masterminded by Boris Berezovsky and carried out by Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev". Dovgy said that the murder was aimed at undermining confidence in law and order in Russia. He said the organizers "wanted to show that well-known people can be killed here in broad daylight, with the law enforcement agencies seemingly unable to solve such crimes". Berezovsky dismissed the accusations in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. "This is another attempt to distract the investigation from searching for the real person behind the murder," he said.

Claims about possible government involvement

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Soon after Politkovskay death, former Russian state security officer Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the assassination of Politkovskaya and stated that a former presidential candidate Irina Hakamada warned Politkovskaya about threats to her life coming from Russian president. Litvinenko said that he advised Politkovskaya to escape from Russia immediately. Hakamada denied her involvement in passing any specific threats, and said that she warned Politkovskaya only in general terms more than a year ago. It remains unclear if Litvinenko referred to an earlier statement made by Boris Berezovsky who claimed that former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Boris Nemtsov received a word from Hakamada that Putin threatened her and like-minded colleagues in person. According to Berezovsky, Putin uttered that Hakamada and her colleagues "will take in the head immediately, literally, not figuratively" if they "open the mouth" about the Russian apartment bombings.

Two weeks after this statement Litvinenko was poisoned by the radioactive polonium. Two days before his death, he decided to write a statement, in case he "does not make it". He said: "Name the bastard. Anya Politkovskaya did not do it, so I will, for both of us" according to Alex Goldfarb. . He said in his last statement:

"You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people."

On 10 October, 2,000 demonstrators called Putin a "murderer" during his visit to Dresden, Germany..

Former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky also believed that the murders of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Politkovskaya, Litvinenko and others mean that FSB has returned to the old KGB practice of political assassinations ordered by the government.. Gordievsky was poisoned himself later, allegedly by a Russian agent .

Politkovskaya was killed at Putin's birthday. Later, in February 2008, historian Yuri Felshtinsky and political scientist Vladimir Pribylovsky noted that none of the official suspects has any personal motifs to kill her. This led them to suggest several possible contractors: "the central leadership of the secret service - as a birthday present for Putin" or "Ramzan Kadyrov, also as a birthday present for Putin, in the hopes of receiving a present in return - the presidency of Chechnya (the hope was realized)".

On April 4 2008 Russian tabloid Novaya Gazeta reported that "Special services’ agents" were among those to organize the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, "but they are being covered with publishing the secret materials of the criminal case." "The question here is not about a total plot by special services (let this be left for American action movies) or about omnipresent Berezovsky (let that be left for state TV journalists and those who need the topic for saving one’s career). The problem is how to understand: who serves whom and when? When the criminal agents serve to particular officers from special agencies and when particular officers serve the interests of their criminal agents? It seems to me that they themselves have confused about that as they get their dividend out of any configuration of their relationships. But to find out who exactly performed the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and who organized that crime, it will be necessary to see exactly into that configuration."

Possibly related developments

Assassination of Politkovskay was discussed in media in connection with deaths of other critics of Vladimir Putin

• On November 18, 2006, former pro-government Chechen commander and FSB officer Movladi Baisarov was shot dead in Moscow. Allegedly, Baisarov intended to give evidence that would show his political opponents' guilty of kidnapping and murder, and give testimony about the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya.

• Novaya Gazeta journalist Vyacheslav Izmailov that his newspaper was preparing to publish information linking Baisarov's murder with that of Anna Politkovskaya. Izmailov, who worked closely with Politkovskaya on her stories about human rights abuses in Chechnya, said former Grozny Mayor Beslan Gantamirov had come to paper's offices two weeks after she was murdered and said armed men close to Ramzan Kadyrov had been sent to Moscow with orders to kill three people: Politkovskaya, Baisarov and Gantamirov himself.

• On November 23, 2006 a former FSB officer and writer Alexander Litvinenko died in London, following a lethal dose of radioactive polonium-210, while investigating Politkovskaya's death. He was an outspoken critic of President Putin and Russia's Chechnya policy.. This incident was remarkably similar to the poisoning by thallium of KGB defector Nikolay Khokhlov, Politkovskaya prepared an interview with Khokhlov for Novaya Gazeta.

• On November 24, the day of Litvinenko's death, Russian economist and politician Yegor Gaidar have been poisoned after drinking a cup of tea. This incident was similar to the poisoning of Politkovskaya on her flight to Beslan.

• A Politkovsaya colleague from Novaya Gazeta Yuri Shchekochikhin has been allegedly poisoned by an unknown radioactive substance He investigated the Russian apartment bombings as a member of the Kovalev Commission with Mikhail Trepashkin. Litvinenko was writing a new book about FSB activities including concentration camps in Chechnya. In that regard, he had frequent contacts with Politkovskaya, according to Larisa Volodimirova.

• Other similar cases include the assassinations of Russian politicians Galina Starovoitova and Sergei Yushenkov and the death of journalist Artyom Borovik who also investigated the Russian apartment bombings

See also

People

• Boris Berezovsky
• Richard Behar
• Artyom Borovik
• Nadezhda Chaikova
• Georgiy R. Gongadze
• Michael Isikoff
• Paul Klebnikov
• Alexander Litvinenko
• Ivan Safronov
• Yuri Shchekochikhin
• Galina Starovoitova
• Malika Umazheva
• Nina Yefimova
• Sergei Yushenkov

Topics

• Human rights in Russia
• Politics of Russia
• List of journalists killed in Russia
• Media freedom in Russia

References

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5. Last article by Anna Politkovskaya
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7. "Russia's Secret Heroes", an excerpt from A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya.
8. "Disquiet On The Chechen Front", TIMEeurope Heroes 2003
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36. Berezovsky Masterminded Murders of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Tregubova, Lugovoy Said Aug. 29, 2007
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38. Генпрокуратура знает, кто стрелял в Политковскую. По нашим данным, киллером может быть 30-летний чеченец Рустам Махмудов Komsomolskaya Pravda 29 March 2007
39. Главный следователь СКП назвал Березовского заказчиком убийства Политковской Lenta.ru 3 April 2007 Template:Ru icon
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47. Бывший резидент КГБ Олег Гордиевский не сомневается в причастности к отравлению Литвиненко российских спецслужб - svobodanews.ru
48. *Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7
49. Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky) The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin, Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6; pages 248-250
50. Agents of special services are among organizers of Politkovskaya assassination. However someone protects them by disclosing secret materials of the criminal case by Sergei Sokolov, 06.04.2008
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53. "Vladimir "Pooty-Poot" Putin, Bush's buddy, is getting out of hand". Rolling Stone. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
54. Poisoning of Russian agent raises fears of UK vendetta | Russia | Guardian Unlimited
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58. Встреча С Прошлым
59. Свою Историю Болезни Я Так И Не Видел… Зачем?
60. Новости NEWSru.com :: Близкие Гайдара скрывают, в какой больнице он находится, опасаясь за его жизнь (ВЕРСИИ отравления)
61. Ежедневный Журнал
62. Terror-99
63. Агент Неизвестен
64. «Александр всегда знал, что за ним охотятся» - svobodanews.ru
65. Russia: High-Profile Killings, Attempted Killings In The Post-Soviet Period, by RFE/RL

External links

• Interfax Assassination Story
• A suspicious death in Russia, The Economist, 8 October 2006
• Template:Ru icon For what reason did Putin the spy kill Politkovskaya

• Assassinations
• 2006 in Russia
• 2006 in politics
• 2006 crimes