10 Oct 2006

Russia the Mobster State

Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who chronicled military abuses against Chechen civilians and garnered accolades and awards from around the world, was killed in her apartment building Saturday in an apparent contract murder possibly tied to her reporting.
Politkovskaya, 48, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in an elevator in her apartment building at 8/12 Lesnaya Ulitsa near Belorussky Station in central Moscow.
On the day of her murder, Politkovskaya had planned to file a lengthy story on torture practices believed to be used by Chechen authorities, Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov said.

"According to CBS News, “Russia has become a deadly place for journalists who run afoul of government officials or their business and political partners. Those behind the killings, though, are rarely brought to justice, reinforcing a sense of impunity that may have encouraged the killers of Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the war in Chechnya.”

"In fact, much of the so-called “civilized world” has become deadly for journalists, including the former beacon of freedom, America. Even so, Russia is particularly dangerous, as Politkovskaya “was at least the 43rd journalist killed for her work in Russia since 1993, according to [the Committee to Protect Journalists], which has ranked Russia the third most deadly country for journalists, after Iraq and Algeria.”

Source: Another Day in the Empire  and more about Anna Politkovskaya on Wikipedia

Infowars.com tells us: "Murdered Russian Journalist Was Finishing Article on Torture in Chechnya"
"Politkovskaya was one of the most persistent critics of Kadyrov's security forces, but she had crossed many powerful people, including in the Russian military, with her investigative reporting and human rights advocacy."