Retrial Ordered in Case of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya

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On October 7, 2006, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was known for her criticism of Putin and her coverage of Russian military abuse cases in Chechnya, was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment building. Her death marked the 261st death of a journalist in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The majority of the 261 murders have gone unsolved; few suspects have ever been brought in; only 21 of the murder cases have been solved. For Politkovskaya, the story was a little different. A trial did take place after the arrest of three men, two Chechen men, brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov, and one Soviet policeman, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, none of which, however, was the suspected gunman. Rustam Makhmudov, the man who is believed to have pulled the trigger, shooting Politkovskaya five times, is still on the run in another country. The trial began in December 2008 and by February 2009 it had devolved into what has been dismissed by the press and humanitarian organizations as a kangaroo court trial. At the close of the trial, the three men were acquitted, a fate that was no surprise considering Russia’s political history and the judicial outcomes of similar cases. But that may be changing now, as it has just been reported by BBC that the Russian Supreme Court has ordered the trial reopened, acquiescing to the appeal requested by the prosecution after the defendants’ acquittals. This means that the three defendants will be brought back into court, whether all of them will show will be interesting to see. One of the men, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, addressed the news of the retrial in a statement released on Thursday:

We’ve never run in our lives and we’re not going to run from this now.”

So it seems he plans to show up. We’ll see about the other two. Politkovskaya’s own family, who is well aware of the mishandling of the trial that took place from December to February, has not expressed great relief at the news of the retrial. The family has stated that they would like a “genuine” trial to take place, but also that they will not be satisfied until the individual who ordered the killing has been brought to justice. In many instances throughout the trial, the idea of an unnamed senior official in the Russian government was introduced as the one who ordered the killings. Coincidentally, Politkovskaya’s murder occurred on Putin’s birthday. Some believe the slaying was a present for him from Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the Chechen Republic and Putin’s close comrade. Putin has in his own perverse and brilliant logic suggested that the killing was carried out by others to hurt his political career, to make him look like the killer based on the known animosity between he and Politkovskaya.

via BBC NEWS | Europe | Politkovskaya case to be retried.