Getting away with murder in Russia

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Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia’s most prominent journalists and Kremlin critics was shot twice in the chest and once in the head at point blank range — a classic sign of a professional hit. But justice has never really been done . No criminal investigation to find the person who ordered the killing.

By Matthew Chance CNN

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — She was shot twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, then once in the head at point blank range — a classic sign of a professional hit.

Forensic teams who examined the body of Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia’s most prominent journalists and Kremlin critics, say the first two shots struck near her heart and were fatal.

The assassin, who had been waiting for her return from a shopping trip, used a pistol with a silencer attached.

For several minutes, her body lay undetected, slumped in the elevator of her Moscow apartment block before neighbors raised the alarm.

Justice has never been done

In the ten years since this brutal murder, linked to her candid and fearless reporting of the conflict and human rights abuses in Chechnya, there have been numerous arrests, two trials and five convictions, including of three Chechen brothers.

But former colleagues say justice has never really been done.

“Absolutely no criminal investigation is taking place to find the person who ordered the killing,” says Dmitry Muratov, editor of Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian-language newspaper where Politkovskaya was a investigative reporter.

“The state should take responsibility and do everything it can to find who ordered this huge political killing,” he told CNN.

But the Kremlin — which denies any connection with the killing — has a poor record when it comes to solving political murders, especially when investigations point to a Chechen connection.

Accused of gross abuses

Chechnya lies in Russia’s troubled Caucasus region, and was ravaged by two brutal wars in the 1990s between government forces and separatist rebels.

It’s led by Ramzan Kadyrov, appointed Chechen president by the Kremlin in 2007 to control the republic.

Human Rights groups accuse security forces under his control of gross abuses, including torture and forced disappearances.

And now another trial is putting the spotlight back on Chechnya. In a courthouse in central Moscow five Chechen men stand accused of accepting cash to kill a leading Russian opposition figure in 2014.

‘True Russian patriot’

Boris Nemtsov, also a persistent critic of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was walking home late at night from a restaurant with his Ukrainian girlfriend when he was shot four times in the back.

The couple were on a bridge near the walls of the Kremlin when the assassin pulled up in a car and opened fired.

Police say the alleged trigger man, now on trial, was Zaur Dadayev, a former member of an elite Chechen military unit, loyal to Kadyrov and under his command.

After his arrest, the Chechen leader spoke strongly in Dadayev’s defence, calling him “a true Russian patriot.”

“If the court finds Dadayev guilty then by killing a person he has committed a grave crime,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram page.

“But I want to note that he could not do anything that was against Russia, for which he has risked his own life for many years,” the Chechen leader added.

Shrine to Politkovskaya

At the Moscow headquarters of Novaya Gazeta, Anna Politkovskaya’s old work space is untouched, left as a shrine to the murdered journalist.

A portrait hangs on the wall and fresh flowers adorn her desk.

But her colleagues say there is little hope those who ordered her killing, or those of Boris Nemtsov, will be held to account.

“We can catch the killers, we can catch the people who organize the killings,” says Dmitry Muratov.

“But for the Russian justice system, the people who order them are inaccessible or they have immunity,” he added.
CNN

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4 responses to “Getting away with murder in Russia”

  1. Oh Yeah Avatar

    “Absolutely no criminal investigation is taking place to find the person who ordered the killing,” says Dmitry Muratov, editor of Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian-language newspaper where Politkovskaya was a investigative reporter.

    “The state should take responsibility and do everything it can to find who ordered this huge political killing,” he told CNN.

    But the Kremlin – which denies any connection with the killing (standard procedure) – has a poor record when it comes to solving political murders (war crimes), especially when investigations point to a Chechen connection or other terrorists.

    The Kremlin understands that the decisive struggle upon which the survival of the regime depends is being conducted in the West.
    Putin and his inner circle have studied the lessons of history. One of the main ones is that when dictatorial regimes suffer a major international defeat (not necessarily military), it almost always leads to the collapse of the regime itself.

    Anna Politkovskaya, was just ONE person that was threatening Putin – shy was eliminated.

    The Al-Assad opponents are an obstacle for Putin’s plans to have a permanent control of Syria – the solution is simple – elimination of the Al-Assad opposition at all costs.
    The Kremlin will denie any participation or connection with the slaughtering of Syrian civilians….

    Now lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted unanimously to approve a deal that will allow Russia to keep its forces at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria
    The deal was signed in August 2015 in Damascus, a month before the Russian air campaign began.

    Russia also has a naval base in Syria’s port of Tartus, the only such outpost outside the former Soviet Union.

    That base is not covered by the treaty, and some lawmakers say it could be the subject of a separate deal.

    Leonid Kalashnikov, a Communist lawmaker, said Moscow must “seriously defend our interests in Syria” in a resolute response to what he and other lawmakers described as Washington’s anti-Russian policies.

    On Thursday, the Russian military warned the US against striking the Syrian army, stressing that Russian air defence weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack.

    However Putin didn’t count with John Kerrys saying that Russia and the Syrian government should be investigated for war crimes probe.

    “Russia, and the regime, owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities and children,” he said.
    “These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes.”
    Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, and said it targets terrorist groups in Syria.
    Mr Kerry, however, said Russian and Syrian government attacks on hospitals were “beyond the accidental” and part of a deliberate strategy in war-torn Syria.

    The U.N. Security Council will vote Saturday on rival Syria resolutions sponsored by France and Russia and both are virtually certain to be vetoed, leaving the war-ravaged country and the besieged city of Aleppo engulfed in conflict and key powers deeply divided.

    Russia’s last minute introduction of a rival resolution Friday afternoon took Western supporters of the French draft by surprise.

    Several diplomats privately called it a brilliant move by Moscow because it will force Western powers to veto as well.

    So instead of Russia alone being put in a negative spotlight for vetoing the French resolution demanding an end to the bombing campaign by Syrian and Russian aircraft in Aleppo, the Western powers are highly likely to veto the Russian draft because it makes no mention of a bombing halt.

    That is why the Kremlin has thrown all its material and political resources into the struggle to lift the existing sanctions and to block any new, harsher ones.

  2. Hind Abyad Avatar
    Hind Abyad

    Wikileaks 8 of Octobre 2016 (yesterday) released part one of the Podesta files.
    https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/927

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Speaking of ‘literacy’ … “you know, sort of …” :-)))

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