Is Journalism Worth Dying For?: Final Dispatches (57 page)

And here are the results: the execution of inconvenient people for the benefit of the Tsar and the motherland.

 … When indifference and fear are instilled, when everything is justified as a part of a struggle against the enemy, when politics, judicial power and money accumulate in the hands of a single person, democracy is weakened and the venal feel strong and free. And when the world flirts, as now, with doctrines of ethnic homogeneity and an apologia of general unitarianism, any deviation is deemed a threat to all. Politkovskaya reminded us of this a million times, and nobody took her seriously. She has died, and Russia is profoundly ailing.

Die Tageszeitung

In an instant it is back again: the image of an unpredictable and incomprehensible Russia. Anna Politkovskaya, an indomitable journalist, has been shot in broad daylight at the entrance to her home. The whole world rubs its eyes in disbelief. What is going on in Russia where it is becoming clear that critically minded journalists are game to be hunted down? Is this country in fact not the bulwark of stability, developing democracy and economic flowering that the Kremlin’s emissaries
and the representatives of expensive PR agencies proclaim to the whole world?

CONDOLENCES AND RESPONSES FROM CITIZENS AND OFFICIALS

Novaya gazeta
, October 23, 2006

Alu Alkhanov, President of the Chechen Republic

Russian journalism has suffered a great loss. The tragic death of Anna Politkovskaya has not only been a shock for Russian society but a blow to the ongoing democratic processes in Russia, including glasnost, one of the most important achievements of the changes in the country. We did not always agree with Anna Politkovskaya’s point of view regarding the situation in the Chechen Republic, but we all understand that criticism is an important part of life and is a counterbalance to totalitarianism and the fostering of a personality cult at the helm of power. We respected the professionalism of Anna Stepanovna, the civic courage of a journalist, the principled position which she expressed strikingly in her publications. I express my sincere condolences to the relatives, friends and colleagues of Anna Politkovskaya.

Anna, a Student from Moscow

On Sunday, nine days after the murder of Anna Stepanovna, I lit a candle and put the lights out. I had seen her only twice, at meetings, but Anna Politkovskaya suddenly became somebody very close to me.

Artyom, Moscow

I saw her once in a shop on Myasnitskaya. I thought she was someone I knew, and then realized it was Politkovskaya. Simply, for some reason, I felt she was a friend. And when she was killed, I felt the blow very keenly. Anna, I will never forget you. Putin, I will never forget what you have done, no matter what drivel you utter.

Ruslan Aushev, Hero of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the Committee for Internationalist Soldiers’ Affairs

A talented journalist has been taken from us before her time, an extraordinary and striking individual, an uncompromising fighter for truth and justice whose outstanding reports were exceptionally important and courageous. This is an irreparable loss.

Karl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden

Her battle for human rights and freedoms was an important part of the work for a better Russia and a better Europe. I sincerely hope that the Russian authorities will make every effort to arrest the guilty and get to the bottom of this crime.

Vladimir Bukovsky, dissident, Cambridge

She was a courageous person who wrote a lot about war and its victims. She was well known in the West. The reasons for her murder are obvious. One cannot pretend it was due to her financial or business interests, because she had none. Her only enemy was the corrupt Russian system which, most likely, is what killed her.

George W. Bush, President of the USA

Like many Russians, Americans were shocked and saddened by the brutal murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a fearless investigative journalist, highly respected in both Russia and the United States. We extend our sympathy and prayers to her family and her friends.

Born in the United States to Soviet diplomats, Anna Politkovskaya cared deeply about her country. Through her efforts to shine a light on human rights abuses and corruption, especially in Chechnya, she challenged her fellow Russians – and, indeed, all of us – to summon the courage and will, as individuals and societies, to struggle against evil and rectify injustices.

We urge the Russian Government to conduct a vigorous and thorough investigation to bring to justice those responsible for her murder.

Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic of France

Letter of condolence to Ms Vera Politkovskaya and Mr Ilya Politkovsky [Anna’s daughter and son]

Dear Ms Politkovskaya,

Dear Mr Politkovsky,

The vile murder of Anna Politkovskaya has shocked me, as it has shocked all French people and all who defend freedom of the press. As a friend of Russia and of the Russian people, I know how angered your country has been by this particularly shameful murder of a passionate journalist whose professionalism and courage have been universally acknowledged, especially in her investigations into the situation in Chechnya.

You know that France attaches enormous importance to the fact that everything needful should be undertaken to ensure that justice is done, and the murderers of your mother found and punished.

In the tragic ordeal which has befallen you, I express to you my deepest and most sincere condolences, and pay the tribute of my profound respect to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya.

I ask you to accept, dear Ms Politkovskaya and Mr Politkovsky, this assurance of my sympathy for you and your family. With heartfelt emotion and sympathy in this hour of your tragic ordeal, Jacques Chirac

Terry Davis, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe

I am shocked by the news that Anna Politkovskaya was found dead in Moscow today, and I am deeply concerned about the circumstances in
which she has lost her life. She was a journalist of exceptional courage and determination, and her reporting on the conflict in the Chechen Republic provided the Russian public and the entire world with an independent insight into the fate of ordinary people caught in this conflict. We have all lost a strong voice of the kind which is indispensable in any genuine democracy. It is essential for the circumstances to be clarified quickly and in a convincing manner.

Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris

I have been deeply shocked to hear of the vile assassination of Anna Politkovskaya. An angry woman, as she once called herself, she knew she was under threat, but as a committed journalist never gave up in the face of intimidation, remaining indignant and determined to inform and reveal the truth.

Nicola Duckworth, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Program

Amnesty International is appalled by the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. We believe she was targeted because of her work as a journalist, reporting on human rights abuses in Chechnya and other regions of the Russian Federation. Russia has lost a brave and dedicated human rights defender, who spoke out fearlessly against violence and injustice, and campaigned tirelessly to see justice done. Amnesty International calls on the Russian authorities to investigate her murder thoroughly and impartially, to make the findings of the investigation public, and for suspected perpetrators to be brought to justice in accordance with international law.

Zainap Gashayeva

Anna was very close and dear to me. We often met in the course of the Chechen War and understood each other well. We were together when she was detained by Russian soldiers in the village of Khotuni.
She has left a profound impression in the memory and hearts of many people with whom she came into contact during all these years. Forgive us, Anna, it hurts so much and it is so difficult to believe you are no longer there, but no one can forbid us to continue to love you.

Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe

Anna Politkovskaya was one of the most important human rights defenders in Russia today. Her dedicated work exposed grave human rights violations in the North Caucasus region, thereby allowing the world to understand that hidden corner of the globe. Having known her well and respected her enormously, the news of her death has made me very sad and angry. Her death is a great loss for Russia, and a great loss for the cause of human rights … While not everyone agreed with her views, no one questioned her professionalism, courage, and personal dedication to revealing the truth about controversial political issues. Ms Politkovskaya’s murder signals a major crisis of free expression and journalistic safety in Russia. The Russian authorities have already failed in investigating previous murder attempts and death threats. They have no excuse now not to investigate the circumstances of her death thoroughly, and to punish those who committed this deplorable crime.

Ramzan Kadyrov, Prime Minister of Chechnya

I was not bothered in the slightest by what Politkovskaya wrote. It did not influence my work or my actions but, on the contrary, helped me, and I had no cause to want to persecute her. She was a woman, and I have never lowered myself to trying to settle scores with women. If even a gas canister explodes somewhere, they look for Chechen involvement, for “Chechen fingerprints.” We are used to that, but I believe we should get over this practice of making baseless accusations.

Garry Kasparov

One of the few whose free voice was to be heard in the Russian press, Anna was a fearless journalist, well known for her reporting of the Government’s atrocities in Chechnya. Those who knew her knew her responsiveness. She deeply felt the sufferings of others and carried that attitude over into her work. She collected documents about the crimes of the Russian security forces in the North Caucasus, about the brutalities perpetrated by Ramzan Kadyrov and other Kremlin placemen in the region. She indefatigably investigated what the Government was concealing about the terrorist acts in Beslan and
Nord-Ost
, where hundreds of civilians died. She took on the most sensitive stories, the most awkward topics. By her example she inspired others, because it was impossible to intimidate her. She never wrote a single line in which she did not believe implicitly. And on Saturday, the 54th birthday of President Vladimir Putin, Anna Politkovskaya was murdered. The killers made no attempt to conceal the nature of the crime, made no attempt to represent it as anything other than a political killing. Even Russian politicians who always spoke against Politkovskaya’s reporting and tried to belittle its significance, are calling what happened a political murder.

Nadezhda Kevorkova, Special Correspondent of
Gazeta:
Live Like a Soldier

The world’s most famous Russian journalist has been murdered. Actually, the only famous journalist on today’s most famous Russian newspaper. Young foreigners interested in our country know about Russia through Anna Politkovskaya’s books, and not through Mikhail Leontiev, Yuliya Latynina, Sergey Dorenko or Oksana Robski. Fine words have already been said about a blow struck at the very heart of Russian journalism, that the profession, free speech, and indeed the very lives of decent people are under threat. It is all lies.

You have to earn such a death. Observers of Kremlin life, chroniclers of the President’s meetings, uncompromising critics of the Government, those mercilessly exposing economic politics, gossip columnists – all belong to the same guild but have differing destinies.

“She lived and died like a soldier,” one of her colleagues said. No more than that.

Those who respected, loved and protected her have nothing to say because their facial muscles fail them. Everybody else’s are in full working order. Some have used muscles to put up posters, others to speak about an “irreparable loss.”

Novaya gazeta
never left out a report by Politkovskaya, except once, on April 1, and once in an anniversary issue.

For seven years its editor, Dmitriy Muratov, printed everything his bloody-minded and unaccommodating columnist wrote. Colleagues in the journalistic guild spat behind her back, poured filth over her, debated whether she had some psychological proclivity to describe atrocities. They didn’t like her style, her turns of phrase were questionable, and there was a certain lack of humor.

Even on NTV before the state takeover, TV–6, and Echo of Moscow radio she was an infrequent guest. She did not like generalisations and long-winded discussions about the Wahhabi Internationale or al-Qaeda’s cash. In her presence you could not indulge in calling the Chechens or the federals brutes, Chechnya a dump, or Russia a whore.

Muratov was her unshakeable support, defending her from both friends and foes.

Why? Because this woman had put in the legwork on all her reports; because people came every day to see her; because officialdom feared her; because officials believed her even while they were excoriating her; because the
zindan
punishment pits she discovered really did exist; because she could not be bribed or intimidated, although she could be afraid, and was on more than one occasion; because she went to Chechnya not during the First War, when only the laziest Moscow journalists didn’t get out there. She went there during the Second Chechen War, whose beginning the liberal politicians Chubais and Nemtsov described as bringing Russian society together again, and marking the rebirth of the Army.

People brought her photographs and clips of atrocities which made men feel sick. She was asked why she went on writing when it was producing no reaction, and replied that it was her duty to write, and she was doing it.