Anna Politkovskaya , Assassinated October , 7th , 2006

[Lucker]

Let this terrible contract killing be remembered .
Without doubt the most fearless and remarkable of her generation .
She was killed on Putin's birthday and featured high on the list of people those at the top wanted gone .
Whether Putin appreciated the gift of her death on his Birthday is another matter .
Kadyrov is the more likely explanation -- the President of Chechnya , one time rebel who bombed and killed Russians but did a deal with his Dad a few years beforehand and switched sides !! .
Kadyrov's Dad was assassinated and Anna was the most outspoken reviewer of the incredible awfulness of both Chechen wars and the inhumanities practised by Russia .
Quite likely, Annna was Tit for for Kadyrov senior's Tat . And it showed Kadyrov's complete loyalty to Putin ( see street naming news in Grozny only this week )
Whether the actual killing was carried by a freelance operative , one of the URPO Death Squad , extremist FSB faction ( URPO) , or a paid Chechen group , is relatively immaterial .
It was the personal tragedy we should remember and one of the final nails that Putin hammered into the system to guarantee fear into would be public dissidents .

[saprosky]

Today all spanish journalist rememeber her.

18 journalists dead since 2000. Part of the dark side of VeePee mandate.

Sad, very sad.

[beezneesman]

Well said Ramon!

[Lucker]

A sincere thanks to Klever Russian Lady
The only Russian who had the grace and humanity to be caring or comment .
Other people will send thanks for Ivanka Plonka's Haircut Anniversary and Russian fifth Class Ship builders day of Swimming Lessons and Giraffes born with no legs .
Poor Anna .

[krevedko]

Ramon, people in Russia do remember Anna. Today meetings in her honour took place in several cities.
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/ai/article.327615/pics.13.jpg

You know my opinion on the feedom of Russian press, so I won't speculate on it here. It is a shame that her activities and death tought people, in particular journalists, a wrong lesson. Instead of being inspired by it, they just developed fear.

[huney]

Russian rights lawyer 'poisoned'

French police have opened an inquiry into allegations that a prominent Russian human rights lawyer may have been poisoned in Strasbourg on Monday.
Karina Moskalenko, who represents some of the Kremlin's best known critics, fell ill after finding a substance similar to mercury inside her car.

Ms Moskalenko's clients include the jailed former Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and the family of the murdered journalist, Anna Politkovskaya.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7670518.stm

[Hoopy]

Pravda will say she had an allergic reaction to her car :lol:

[Lucker]

One of the people I feel very sorry for is Khodorkhovsky. They are desperately trying to increase his sentence with further disgracefully contrived charges and recently he was given an isolation sentence because he gave an interview which had not be cleared .
This is a great Russian and hero whom the Kremlin have villified for political reasons . The majority of ordinary Russians will tell you he is a traitor but , when asked , know absolutely nothing about his career and life work .
Somewhere down the line he will be rightly seen as a martyr and intelligent Russians will be racked with guilt when they realise how the Kremlin smashed him for reasons of personal greed -- the family got rid of him .

As for Moskalenko . It is not coincidence that a showcase nonsense trial is being held right now in Moscow , re the assassination of Anna .
The FSB has always given a subtext to murders and severe warnings and having Karina hospitalised was one way of stopping democrats trying to breathe a little bit of honesty into the Moscow court proceedings . It was their way of saying , "keep out of it or take the consequences " .
What a Godless system .

[Hoopy]

When I watched the documentary about Khodorkhovsky I was shocked at the way the auction for Yukos was conducted,it was all a big farce with only 2 people being able to bid and 1 of them refused to offer a price,the company was sold for almost half it's market value.

[Lucker]

It's a long and detailed story which Russians simply have no access to .
However despicable the Putin driven strategy was , I do despair at the simpicity MK showed when he effectively threatened the Kremlin with his new Democratic party . Did he really believe that he could avoid being crushed ?
Did he really believe that his billions could keep him safe ?
I would love to know the answers but I have this awful feeling that he could not control the part of him that was an undiluted idealist and that somehow he believed that right was might .
What a flaw , if correct .

[kentuckydan]

When I watched the documentary about Khodorkhovsky I was shocked at the way the auction for Yukos was conducted,it was all a big farce with only 2 people being able to bid and 1 of them refused to offer a price,the company was sold for almost half it's market value.


Which I am certain the author of the articles in this thread


http://www.gogabber.com/showthread.php?t=903



Will blame on the West


:vampire:

[huney]

A Russian court has acquitted three men accused of aiding the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006.


The court in Moscow handed down "not guilty" verdicts on brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov and ex-police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.

A third brother, Rustam, is accused of the actual murder and remains at large.

Russian prosecutors said they would appeal against the verdicts delivered by the jury.

Ms Politkovskaya, a fierce Kremlin critic, was shot in her apartment building.

The brutal murder of the reporter, who worked for the small-circulation Novaya Gazeta newspaper, highlighted the risks run by journalists in Russia.

She was the 13th journalist to be killed in a contract-style killing in Russia during Vladimir Putin's period as president, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

While her death shocked the international community, it did not register widely in Russia.

'Shame'
According to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, the jury took two hours to arrive at its verdict.


It also acquitted a former FSB (Federal Security Service) agent, Pavel Ryaguzov, of an extortion charge relating to the case.

Investigators said last summer they believed that Rustam Makhmudov, 34, was hiding in western Europe.

They have not named or arrested anyone suspected of "ordering" the killing.

The three brothers come from Chechnya, where Ms Politkovskaya did some of her most damning reports into alleged abuses by Russian security forces.

Reacting to Thursday's acquittals, the chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists, Vsevolod Bogdanov, said he was "ashamed".

"I have this feeling of incredible shame - at what level was the investigation conducted that the jurors delivered this verdict unanimously?" he asked, speaking to Interfax news agency.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7899472.stm

[Lucker]

There never could be any other verdict at this point in time because -- and you are probably aware of this--- there is no direct evidence yet that Kadyrov called the contract or the identity of the contract killer .
This was a show case trial because , for the Kremlin , matters had got out of hand with internal dissent and international outrage .
When the dust settles , it will be clearly seen what we all knew from the outset --- the State has no interest in even trying to solve the murder .There is probably enough behind just this one act of gangster brutality to bring down key Family members --- even Putout himself .
It may be small consolation to those closest to Anna's family and Novagazeta , but the investigation will never cease and this case will come to haunt Putout forever and could be a factor in his toppling .
For anybody interested , this case has been reported and discussed in amazing detail in Novagazeta and there are what seem close to 100 major articles readily and easily available in their Archives . You can down load any of them within seconds of reaching the site and there is an English translation of all of them , though the translation is not brilliant .