A rally in memory of Anna Politkovskaya, journalist of the
oppositional Novaya Gazeta newspaper, gathered about 300 people
in Moscow on October 7.
Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in Chief of Novaya Gazeta, told that
Muscovites brought many flowers, books, messages to Anna’s
tomb. He also paid tribute to the memory of journalists and
human rights activists murdered in the past years, as well
as those suffering persecutions from the authorities. “I am
absolutely sure, that there will come time, when a monument
to Natasha Estemirova will be erected in the centre of Grozny,
and a monument to Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow,” he said.
Ludmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, thanked
all who came to the rally to express their tribute to Anna.
“As the killers were not found and were not even condemned
by those people who are in power now, it is we who condemn
them,” she said.
Ludmila Alexeyeva and Alexei
Simonov
“Of course we shall see, or rather you shall see, the murders
convicted one day, but before this we may have to gather with
the same placards but with different photos, as no one has
bee actually looking for the murderers, no one convicted them,
they are even help to get abroad, they help them to escape
the trial, however those mourning publicly are under trial,”
Alexeyeva said.
‘The list of murdered journalists – is the list of the most
courageous people. This is the list of those who proved by
their deaths that they penetrated into the spheres where it
was prohibited to penetrate,” Viktor Shenderovich, renowned
journalist, said in his speech. “These crimes will be investigated
when murders of these people will not be in power.”
A popular actress Liya Akhedzhakova asked a rhetorical question,
“I am not that interested to learn who stabbed, who shot,
who slaughtered [them]. It is not of primary concern for me.
I wonder who is the Director [staging all this]?”
Liya Akhedzhakova
YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin also made a speech at the
rally. “When we are asking questions here whether our authorities,
our state are involved in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya,
or the murders of [journalists] Yuri Schekochikhin, Larissa
Yudina, Farid Babayev (Ed. Head of YABLOKO’s branch in Dagestan),
unfortunately this list has been growing, I personally can
only give a positive answer to this question. They are involved
at least in how they have been investigating all these crimes.
While Anna’s murder is not investigated, all of us are at
gunpoint,” Mitrokhin said.
Sergei Mitrokhin
Many speakers also raised their voices in defence of journalist
Alexander Podrabinek, who also was one of the speakers. Podrabinek
noted, “They have been trying to return us back to the Soviet
Union and Soviet times today, and in memory of our murdered
colleagues, in memory of Anna Politkovskaya we should spare
no effort so that keep our freedom from being torn by this
leash”.
Alexander Podrabinek
The participants of the rally also recollected the tragedy
of Nord-Ost, a theatre full of hostages, and Beslan, when
schoolchildren were taken hostages on the first school day.
The rally called the citizens of Russia to display their civil
activity and stop being indifferent.
Human rights activist Sergei Kovalyov, writer and human rights
activist Alexei Simonov, Actor Eugeni Redko, journalist Eugeniya
Albats, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Yuri Schmidt, politicians
Boris Nemtsov and Mikhail Kasyanov also spoke at the meeting.
The speakers also shared their personal memories of Anna,
read out an abstract from her article. All the people brought
flowers and laid them to Anna’s photograph.
After the rally the participants went to Lesnaya street,
where Anna lived and where she was killed. Flowers were also
laid there.
More photographs
at the Moscow YABLOKO web-site
See also:
Human
Rights
Freedom
of Speech and Media Law in Russia
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