The Moscow Times comments on the recent death of the Russian investigative journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, in its October 19 issue. The piece places her murder in the context of a country run by former KGB officials with a love of authority and personal presidential power. It describes a country that offers little in the way of hope for a permanent thaw of Cold War realities.
From the Moscow Times:
“The 12 journalists who have been killed in Russia since President Vladimir Putin came to power were probably killed to avenge something already written or to prevent the publication of something else. But an atmosphere in which individuals and free institutions are held in open contempt also facilitated these murders.
This contempt was evident in the remarks Putin made after two days of silence about the slaying of Anna Politkovskaya. ‘I think that journalists should be aware that her influence on political life was extremely insignificant in scale.’ The woman is two days dead and the president of her country pronounces her life’s work “extremely insignificant.” But Putin takes her death almost as an affront, at the very least, a smudge on his regime: ‘This murder inflicts more harm and damage to the governments of Russia and Chechnya than did her publications.’