The International Press Institute (IPI), marking the fifth anniversary of the murder of Russian journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Anna Politkovskaya, today called on authorities to identify and hold accountable the mastermind of the killing.
The move came amid reports that investigators announced the indictment of Chechen native Lom-Ali Gaitukayev in the slaying and said that new charges would be brought against suspected triggerman Rustam Makhmudov, who is Gaitukayev’s nephew, and others. However, authorities remained silent about who ordered the murder.
IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “Five years on from Anna Politkovskaya’s murder we still feel her absence strongly and we remain saddened by the loss. While we are glad that progress has been toward holding some of her killers accountable, those who pulled the strings remain free. We call on Russian authorities to continue to pursue this investigation and to bring everyone involved to justice. We also hope that this anniversary inspires people everywhere to continue to fight against impunity for attacks on journalists.”
IPI Vice Chair Galina Sidorova, chair of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism – Foundation 19/29 in Moscow and former editor-in-chief of the Sovershenno Secretno monthly, added: “Anna’s name has become a symbol of personal courage and dedication to the profession. Her work is an example of true investigative journalism: honest, brave, careful and highly professional. We, her colleagues in Moscow, are closely following the recent developments in the official investigation of her murder that have resulted in the arrests of the new suspects. We maintain hope – although not high hopes – that the real organizers of this heinous crime will one day be convicted.”
A Moscow court in August ordered the arrest of former senior police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who allegedly promised cash to the group that carried out the murder, and provided them with the firearm used to kill the journalist and information on her movements. Investigators said at the time that they had information on the alleged mastermind, but commented that releasing the name would be “premature”.
Pavlyuchenkov has been accused of giving false testimony when he served as a witness in the 2009 trial of Makhmudov’s brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov and former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov for the murder. The three were acquitted, but Russia’s Supreme Court set aside the verdict and police opened a new investigation involving the same suspects. Authorities arrested Rustam Makhmudov in June of this year.
Politkovskaya, a well-known Russian investigative journalist and political commentator with the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was found shot dead in the lift of her apartment building in Moscow. She had extensively reported on the situation in Chechnya and gained international recognition for her critical reports, which drew attention to human rights abuses committed by both the local authorities and independent groups.
IPI named her a World Press Freedom Hero two months after her death at a ceremony in which then-IPI Director Johann Fritz called Politkovskaya’s nomination “a tribute to her bravery, but also an acknowledgement of the struggles of the many courageous journalists working in Russia.” The group in 2009 honoured Novaya Gazeta with its Free Media Pioneer Award at a ceremony in which the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, dedicated the award to the memories of Politkovskaya and others who had lost their lives in the preceding decade.
According to IPI’s Death Watch, 14 journalists have died in Russia since Politkovskaya’s killing, including two this year. Yakhya Magomedov of the Russian Islamic newspaper As-Salam was killed on 8 May in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan when he was shot four times near the northern city of Khasavyurt. Anatoly Bitkov, the chief editor of Kolyma Plus regional television company, was found dead in his apartment on 22 May in the city of Magadan with multiple stab wounds to his head and body.
