Politkovskaya Investigation in Disarray, Supporters Say Russian Gov’t Sabotaged Case
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Related subjects: In the Loop, J.E. Robertson, Media, Press Freedom, Rights & Freedoms, The Russian Federation Comments Off
PUTIN AT LAST PROMISES MURDERERS WILL BE PUNISHED, WHILE LEAD INVESTIGATOR DEMOTED
In late August, prosecutors announced the arrest of 10 individuals in connection with an alleged conspiracy to murder investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in her apartment-building’s lobby last year. A judge in Russia has ruled against the detention of an FSB agent, who was released, then re-arrested on unrelated charges of abduction, murder and abuse of power. Now the Russian government has replaced the lead investigator, provoking “disappointment and bewilderment” at Novaya Gazeta, where Politkovskaya worked.
Supporters say that pro-Putin elements within the government have been trying to sabotage the investigation, and that siloviki —a Russian word referring to former spies and security officials now in top levels of government— are organizing the dismantling of the case. Putin’s cabinet has continually been comprised of a majority of former intelligence and security personnel. Dmitry Muratov, editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta, alleged on Echo Moskvy radio: “The siloviki are achieving what they set out to achieve. They wanted to ruin the case, and now they will remove Gabriyan and finish that process.”
Sentido reported on 9 October 2006 that “Anna Politkovskaya had written in her recent book that Vladimir Putin, who has filled his government with current and former KGB operatives (an estimated 12 times as many as in the 1980s Soviet Union), has turned Russia’s fledgling democracy into a dictatorship.” Media reports were full of speculation about ties to security agents in the top levels of government, though proof has never been found.
On 3 September 2007, RIA Novosti reported that “[Prosecutor General Yury] Chaika announced that a Chechen-born leader of a Moscow organized crime group, known to the journalist, masterminded the murder, and said former and serving security and police officers had been arrested in the investigation.” 10 individuals were detained, “including direct organizers, accomplices and perpetrators of the crime”, in Chaika’s words.
According to a Russian business daily, Kommersant, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, a former police major, accused of involvement was in prison until more than two months after Politkovskaya’s murder. The apparent alibi is not necessarily exculpatory, in that he could have conspired with others involved from prison, but the court has treated his involvement as unlikely, due to his incarceration.
The immediate context surrounding the murder was that “Politkovskaya had just announced two days earlier that she was planning to reveal in an article, due to print [just days after her killing], proof that Chechen PM and Putin protegé Ramzan Kadyrov was involved in a kidnap and torture case.”
Kadyrov “had just turned 30, the age required to be appointed as Chechen president” and had “long been considered responsible for abuses in Chechnya”. Supporters vocally expressed their view that the investigative journalist was murdered because she was getting too close to evidence linking the Putin government to a campaign of human rights abuses, corruption and alleged ethnic cleansing in Chechnya.
Pres. Putin’s initial reaction baffled and offended many observers, when he claimed it was neither suspicious nor of any significance. Demonstrators in Moscow called for a comprehensive independent investigation and accused the regime of “destroying the press”. Politkovskaya was the 12th journalist murdered in a contract-style killing in Russia since Putin came to power.
The apparent demotion of the lead investigator on the case, who had reportedly found compelling links to serving intelligence agents and individuals close the president’s inner circle, was justified only on the grounds that he was responsible for the confusion that occurred when several security agents accused of involvement were freed.
It has not been made clear whether any undue influence was placed on judges involved, or whether evidence that was reportedly used to link them to the case had been tampered with or destroyed, as some allege. While press advocates allege that powerful ‘siloviki’ have successfully contaminated or derailed the investigation, Putin’s government now vows to bring the perpetrators to justice, claiming Politkovskaya’s murder was part of a plot to smear his government and oust him from power.
- Washington Post: “Difficulties Arise in Probe Of Russian Reporter’s Death”
- RIA Novosti: “Court rules against FSB officer’s arrest in Politkovskaya murder”
- Washington Post: “Anna Politkovskaya, news and articles”
- Scotsman: “Putin silent as murder outcry grows”
- RSF: “Call for rally outside Russian embassy in Paris in protest against journalist’s murder, international investigation demanded”
- RSF: “Raids on journalists’ homes in continuing harassment of Perm-based independent weekly”
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