FOR THE MEMORY OF ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA

COMMEMORATING ANNA

October the 7th is an important date for Russians. It is the birthday of Vladimir Putin who is the former president of Russia and now  prime minister. And at the same time, it is the day when  Anna Politkovskaya was murdered. Anna was a prominent journalist who criticized Kremlin with her articles. She investigated human rights violations in Chechnya. And she was killed on the same day as Putin was born. 

         Anna used harsh language to criticize Chechnya war and she had been writing an article about (Russian) cruelty in Chechnya. Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead on the seventh of October in 2006 while she was on her way home. The journalist who was working for “Novaya gazeta”, was known for her oppositional stance. Her last article was cut short when she was killed on the eve of the seventh October at 16:04. She was killed at 16.04 . Although 4 years have passed after her murder, her murderer or murderers had not been found.

Not only Russians, but also “The whole world” were watching closely the inquiry of the murder of Politkovskaya. 5 months later of the death of Anna, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, on the phone to the president of the united States, George W. Bush promised an impartial inquiry. Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, United Nations and Council of Europe demanded a transparent international inquiry from Russia. They offered 2 million dollars reward to people who help to catch her murderers.

         The attempts did not work. As a result of the inquiry, 11 people were detained, 3 of them were brought before the court. But the suspects were acquitted due to lack of evidence. And the case of Anna Politkovskaya was closed in 2009. But the case is opening again. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that unsolved cases of 19 journalist, one of them is Anna Politkovskaya, will be opened again.

The murderers of Politkovskaya are suspected to hide in Europe. Another claim is that Chechen President Kadirov provoked the murderers of Politkovskaya. The Inquiry will investigate all these allegations until February.

         On the anniversary of the death of leading human rights activist in Russia, the President of European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, issued a declaration on human rights in Russia. Buzek used the phrase  “She sacrificed her life in order to unearth facts about Chechnya.” on the declaration. 
         For the seventh of October 2010 issue of  “Novaya Gazeta” for which Anna Politkovskaya worked, Oleg Hılebnikov wrote an emotional article titled “Our Anna”. It started as: “7 November 2006 was one of the most painful days in Russia.” On the article Hılebnikov was angered since who murdered Anna is still on the run. He wrote:
“ When the hours showed 16.05, there was neither text, nor the sound of typewriter keys on her typewriter. We asked so many questions but didn’t get any answer. Such as ‘was the death of Anna a birthday gift to President Putin?’. Putin had said ‘the death of Politkovskaya gave us more harm than her articles.’ His speech was not a routine. But everyone still remembers that speech. Anna was a woman fighting against injustice. She was so brave and She was afraid of nothing. People, even journalists sometimes asked ‘Did Anna exceed the limits?’. No, Anna did not exceed the limits, she always wrote the facts. But ’ they did to her’ exceeded the limits. Maybe they understood that Anna didn’t exceed the limits with her articles!.”
         This year Russian colleagues gathered in Gribayedova Square in Moskow as every year to commemorate Anna Politkovskaya. The crowd  protested the fact that the murderers of Anna are still large and chanted slogans against Putin and ODD. More than 500 people demanded the name of the street where she was shot dead to be renamed as ‘Politkovskaya’.

2010 YILINDA YILIN EN İYİ TV HABERİ ÖDÜLÜ ALDIĞIM HABER METNİ