RUSSIA: Anna Politkovskaya and Her Fight for Truth

In the world of journalism, there are those who report the news, and then there are those who become the news themselves—martyrs for truth, justice, and freedom of speech. Anna Politkovskaya, a fearless Russian investigative journalist, fell into the latter category. Her life and tragic death serve as a reminder of the dangers journalists face when they dare to speak truth to power.

In this blog post, we look at her life and the events surrounding her tragic murder, as well as the  investigation and the suspects arrested in the case. 

Anna Politkovskaya

EARLY LIFE

Anna Mazepa Politkovskaya was born to Soviet diplomats, Stepan and Raisa Mazepa, based in New York City at the time of her birth. Her parents were based at the United Nations, and had Ukrainian roots. After the stint in America, her parents moved back to Moscow, Russia, where young Anna spent most of her childhood. After she graduated school, she went to Moscow State University and studied journalism in 1980. 

While studying for her degree, Anna met her future husband, Alexander Politkovsky. He was a fellow student at the same education establishment. After they got married, they had two children: a daughter Vera and son Ilya. Of the couple, the husband was the more famous one. He was a host on the late-night TV show, Vzglyad, joining TV journalist, Vladislav Listyev. 

Politkovskaya was a US citizen by birth, this meant that she also held an American passport. However, she did not travel outside of Russia for more than a few weeks at a time throughout her life. Even when she was being threaten with her life.  

JOURNALISM WORK

Anna Politkovskaya worked for several newspaper agencies during her career. In 1982, she worked with Izvestia, until 1993. She was the reporter and editor of the emergencies and accidents section. Then, she moved on to Obshchaya Gazeta, where she wrote about social issues, especially the struggles of refugees. There, she worked for five years, from 1994 to 1999. After that, she started to write in Novaya Gazeta in 1999. 

Novaya Gazeta was a biweekly newspaper that focused on investigative reporting. They were critical of the new regime after the collapse of the Soviet Union from the get go. At the newspaper, Politkovskaya was a strong critic of the Putin regime, and often she wrote about the high-level corruption going on in the upper echelons of Russian society.  

One of her main focuses was the Chechen war. She travelled to the war torn areas several times, and wrote reports focusing on human rights violations, torture, kidnappings and murders related to the Chechen conflict. Anna won numerous international awards for her writing, and she was a well-known war correspondent. 

She also brought up some accusations against Ramzan Kadyrov. He became the head of the Chechen Republic in 2007, after his father's death. Kadyrov leads Chechnya in an autocratic and oppressive manner. Since he rose to power, he has been very loyal to Vladimir Putin, even thought he is not well liked in the Kremlin. At the time that Politkovskaya was murdered, she was looking into some murders tied to Kadyrov. 

Besides being a journalist, she was also an author with quite a few book published. These were aggregations of her articles and they formed the basis of such books as Putin's Russia and books focused on Chechnya. 

BEING DETAINED IN CHECHNYA

In 2001, Politkovskaya was captured by military officials in Khattuni, Chechnya. She was investigating complaints from around 90 families about punitive raids perpetrated by federal forces. She was actually interviewing an elderly woman named Rosita, who lived in the village of Tovzeni. She was forced to suffer 12 days of electric shocks, beatings and being tied in a pit. The men who arrested her said they were FSB employees. The capturers demanded a ransom from Rosita's family, which were only able to pay a lower sum. Another Chechen civilian described the sexual assault and killings of Chechen men in a "concentration camp with a commercial streak" close to the village. 

Anna was stopped by authorities when she tried to leave the camp. They beat and humiliated her, subjected her to interogation and detained her. She described later how the young officers knew how to torture her well. They were hitting the softer spots on her body, rifling through pictures of her family, and subjected her to a mock execution. They also poisoned her with a cup of tea that made her be sick for a few hours. 

FIGHTING WITH RAMZAN KADYROV

Anna Politkovskaya was on bad terms with Kadyrov, at the time he was the Prime Minister of Chechnya. One of his assistants actually said to the reporter that she should be shot on the streets of Moscow. Kadyrov agreed with him and echoed that Anna Politkovskaya, is an "enemy. To be shot..." 

On the day that she was killed, the reporter was due to release a story about torture practices that were used by the Kadyrovites, or more officially known as the Chechen security forces. They are also famous for being the "TikTok army" in Ukraine, often posting videos firing in the sky, at walls, or trees. However, Kadyrovites have a fierce reputation for torture, beatings and sexual assault of their captives. 

Politkovskaya described Kadyrov as the "Chechen Stalin of our days". 

THE MURDER

Anna Politkovskaya was found dead in the lift of her block of flats on 7th October 2006. She lived in a wealthy part of Moscow. The date of death is interesting as it happened on Putin's 54th birthday, and two days after Kadyrov celebrated his 30th birthday. She was shot twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, and once in the head. The gunshot wounds were received at close range. The assassination looked like a contract killing due to the nature of the execution. 

A few days later, her funeral was held at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery, on the outskirts of Moscow. This was on 11 October. Before she was interred in the ground, people who admired her came to pay their respects. This was many of her colleagues, public figures and those who championed for her work. In total, there was over one thousand mourners who came to her coffin. Politkovskaya was buried next to her father, who passed away just before her death. 

An investigation was launched in to the Politkovskaya assassination by Russian authorities. Overall, ten men were detained on suspicion of being involved in her murder. Four of those were brought in front of the Moscow District Military Court in October 2008, two years after the death. 

THE INVESTIGATION

There was international outrage at Anna Politkovskaya's death and the international community demanded a thorough investigation from the Russian government. 

In March and April 2008, significant developments unfolded in the investigation of Politkovskaya murder case. Rustam Makhmudov, a Chechen identified as the suspected killer, was reported to be involved in the crime. His brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail also suspected of complicity, they were accused of being the drivers after the fact. 

Dmitry Dovgy, from the Investigating Committee of the Persecution Office of Russia, publicly asserted that the murder was orchestrated by Boris Berezovsky and executed by Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev, a Chechen gangster and crime boss, aiming to undermine trust in Russia's law enforcement. However, Berezovsky refuted these allegations, claiming they were an attempt to divert attention from finding the true culprit behind the murder. Additionally, Novaya Gazeta reported that all suspects in the case were linked to Russian special services, suggesting government protection for the killers.

In June 2008, the preliminary investigation concluded, leading to three individuals—Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and Ibragim Makhmudov—being slated for trial for Politkovskaya's murder. Pavel Ryaguzov faced charges of lesser offenses. Despite these developments, colleagues at Novaya Gazeta believed the case remained unresolved, emphasizing the need to identify the mastermind and the actual triggerman. Rustam Makhmudov, the suspected shooter, was confirmed to be hiding in Western Europe by Russian chief investigator, Alexander Bastrykin. In May 2011, Makhmudov was arrested in Chechnya. 

A few years later, on July 16th, 2012, another arrest was made in connection to the case. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was charged with planning the murder of the reporter. He was a former police officer. 

THE TRIALS 

In October 2008, the case against Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov was forwarded to court by prosecutors. By November 2008, reports emerged suggesting that a Russian politician had ordered the murder, as indicated in the case files. During the trial, Novaya Gazeta's Deputy Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov disclosed that the suspected hitman, Rustam Makhmudov, had been sought by police since 1998 and had been shielded by the Russian domestic secret service (FSB), notably by FSB Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov, another suspect in the case. However, Ryaguzov's attorney objected, citing the alleged FSB connections of Makhmudov as a "state secret."

On February 19, 2009, the trial concluded with Dzhabrail Makhmudov, Ibragim Makhmudov, and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov being unanimously acquitted by the jury due to not being enough evidence to prosecute them. Prosecutor Vera Pashkovskaya announced the intention to appeal the verdict. Andrew McIntosh, Chairman of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Sub-Committee on the Media, expressed frustration over the lack of progress in investigating Anna Politkovskaya's murder and urged Russian authorities to relaunch a thorough investigation. 

In June 2009, the Supreme Court overturned the previous not guilty verdicts and ordered a retrial for three men implicated in Anna Politkovskaya's murder. In December 2012, former police officer Dmitry Pavliutchenkov received an 11-year prison sentence after being found guilty in a plea deal for providing evidence related to the murder, although he did not disclose the identities of those who ordered the killing. In June 2014, five individuals were sentenced for Politkovskaya's murder, with two receiving life imprisonment. 

Recently, on November 14, 2023, one of the convicts, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, received a presidential pardon after participating in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He remained in Ukraine as a volunteer fighter despite the pardon.

CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, the tragic death of Anna Politkovskaya, a courageous journalist and advocate for justice in Russia, stands as a strong reminder of the dangers faced by those who dare to expose corruption and abuse under Putin's regime. Politkovskaya fearlessly sought to uncover the truth and shed light on the dark realities plaguing her country, but her efforts ultimately cost her life. 

Despite convictions handed down in connection with her murder, lingering doubts persist, suggesting that those held accountable may have been mere scapegoats in a broader scheme. The unresolved nature of Politkovskaya's assassination showcases the ongoing challenges to freedom of expression and the rule of law in Russia, serving as a poignant testament to the perils faced by dissenting voices in Putin's oppressive regime.

References: 

• BBC: Anna Politkovskaya murder suspect arrested in Chechnya
• Reuters: Russia charges 3 men in Politkovskaya murder
• European Journalist Org: Investigation of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder was inadequate, says the ECHR
• BBC: The murder that killed free media in Russia
• International Press Institute: Remembering Anna Politkovskaya: ‘She became a role model for many young Russian journalists’
• Al Jazeera: Russian convicted over journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s murder pardoned