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One of many memorial services dedicated to the anniversary of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya took place in New York City on October 7th. It was organized by a group of admirers led by broadcaster Anton Krylov, who is also the initiator of a campaign to rename a New York City street in honor of Anna Politkovskaya.

Exactly one year ago, Anna Politkovskaya, a columnist for the Russian publication ‘Novaya Gazeta’ and famous for her critical articles on the Caucasus and human rights, was shot dead in her apartment building on Lesnaya Street, Moscow.

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Special for the ‘MZ’ by Lubov Burban

While returning from vacation in November last year, we stopped in Paris. Obviously, three days and Paris are ‘incompatible’, but the temptation to visit the Louvre was so great that we ‘shot’ out into the street long before the museum was open — because, what if there was a line? (Old Soviet habits are hard to break.)

Our hotel was in the center of the city, on a quiet street where there were no trendy shops or expensive restaurants, just 5 or 6-storied houses, adorned with wrought-iron lacework balconies so close to each other that they merged into an ensemble, as if they were all created at the same time by the same craftsman. The Parisian neighborhoods, no matter how many times we read about them in novels, or saw them in films, were our first ‘shock’.

It was early, and the street cleaners were already finishing up their jobs and the Parisians had not yet started theirs. Rare passers-by gathered in tiny cafes for morning coffee, but we were not stopping, we were heading for the Louvre. The street was just waking up, and the tiny cars, so dissimilar in size to U.S. ‘gondolas’, were still peacefully asleep, awaiting their passengers.

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Радио «Свобода»

В воскресенье — годовщина со дня гибели Анны Политковской. Представители официальных российских властей не раз пытались утверждать, что статьи обозревателя «Новой газеты» не оказывали влияния на процессы в стране. С такой точкой зрения категорически не согласны коллеги Анны Политковской, многие общественные и политические деятели, а также герои ее материалов.

После убийства Анна Политковской президент России Владимир Путин заявил, что «она была известна в журналистских и правозащитных кругах, но ее влияние на политическую жизнь в России было минимальным». Гораздо раньше прозвучало высказывание представителя Центра общественных связей ФСБ России Ильи Шабалкина о том, что «Новая газета» и ее сотрудница Анна Политковская используют поездки журналистки в Чечню «для разрешения своих финансовых проблем и разногласий с некоторыми фондами». Представители власти не гнушались подобными обвинениями, пытаясь создать образ меркантильной журналистки, чьи статьи не производили должного эффекта на читателей. Но людей, хорошо знавших Анну Политковскую, такие заявления коробят.

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