It’s hard to imagine a more cowardly act than the cold-blooded murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. “The pen is mightier than the sword”—and, presumably, mightier than the bullet. Whistling in the dark. Bullets and bombs continue to make the weaker argument prevail, just as in the days of swords and battering rams; continue to prop the unworthy in high places, continue to make life in the jungle seem civilized by comparison.
Her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, is offering a 25 million ruble reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. “As long as there is a Novaya Gazeta,” the paper writes, “her murderers will not sleep peacefully.” Ironically, money may provide the solution—the same thing that can hypnotize weak souls into firing bullets and exploding bombs.
When someone tells you they’re killing for an idea (democracy, freedom, etc.), dig a little deeper. There’s usually lucre down there, or something freely convertible into lucre. Only maniacs kill for ideas—to satisfy the voices whispering inside their heads. And how many of them are there, really? By and large, it’s the average, reasonable human being we need to worry about—the one capable of a contract killing. A contract—what could be more civilized?
I guess I thought back to Putin’s little crack — at Bush’s well deserved expense — about how Russia didn’t want a democracy anything like Iraq’s. Factoring in Chechnya, Georgian repression, and the gangland killings of people like Politkovskaya, I’d say he and his country are well on their way anyway.
This is a real test for Putin. Politkovskaya isn’t the first journalist rubbed out (not to mention politicians, bankers, etc.). People are fed up. Is he going to get serious about stamping out the various mafias let loose after the USSR collapsed? And is it any wonder so many Russians long for a strongman? I don’t envy him his job. Our think-tankers make the transition to representative democracy and open government seem so easy.
Um, “real test for Putin?”
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. Those accused in the story of practicing torture belong to security detachments loyal to Chechnya’s pro-Moscow Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, Muratov said. The detachments are known as kadyrovtsy. A day after Politkovskaya was found dead, police seized her computer hard disk and material she had assembled for an investigative article; the story may now never be published. Additionally, Muratov said, two photographs of the suspected torturers have disappeared.
Looks like a motive. Personally, I think Putin’s happy she’s dead, or some pals of his like this Chechnya proconsul of his are, or both.
Now he’s cracking down on the foreign NGOs. In my opinion, Putin’s scum.
I read somewhere (somewhere reputable) that the NGO registration and rules were comparable to what are in effect in other (reputable) countries, and that there was plenty of time to do the paperwork before the deadline. But what is ever as it seems?
It appears Anya stepped on more toes than just Putin’s. There are some nasty guys over there—oligarchs, corrupt cops, assorted wiseguys. I think (we all think) the toes were big ones, though, not some neighborhood punk’s.
There have been some unsolved murders of journalists in our beloved country in my lifetime, so I can’t get too hopeful they’ll find the scumbag who actually contracted the hit, all opinions aside. 😉