From the late 1990s to her murder in 2006, Anna Politkovskaya reported on the atrocities of the war in Chechnya, on Russian domestic affairs and state corruption. Through her tenacity and unconditional activism in denouncing human rights abuses, she made of Novaya Gazeta one of the last bastions of free speech at the time when most of Russian media preferred to stay silent.
Politkovskaya Opposing Vladimir Putin
A constant critic of the Kremlin, Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006) was the world’s most famous Russian journalist and one of the most important human rights defender in Russia, exposing grave violations in the North Caucasus region. From 1999 until her murder in 2006, Politkovskaya wrote for the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Here, she exposed the war in Chechnya, the then-President Vladimir Putin and Russian state corruption to the public opinion.
Despite intimidation, death threats and an attempted poisoning she was subjected to, Politkovskaya continued writing and fighting against the state regime with exceptional courage and determination. As quoted in the book Nothing but the truth – a collection of her writings and war dispatches - Anna Politkovskaya answered about the possibility for her to leave Russia: “Exile is not for me. That way they win.”
Politkovskaya Reporting From Grozny
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was relatively non-violent, except in Chechnya, where Russian Army and Chechen warlords embarked on a war in 1994. Boris Yeltsin signed the peace agreement in 1996, but the Chechen War re-started in 1999, supposedly in response to a Chechen attack on Dagestan and the blowing up of apartment blocks in Russia cities in which over 300 citizens died.
Although both pretexts were widely believed to be stage-managed by the Russian Government itself, the nation was experiencing a wave of anti-Chechen hysteria guided by a clever state propaganda. Putin’s anti-terrorist campaign destroyed the Chechen capital, Grozny, with most Russian journalists reported the war from the point of view of Moscow.
The exception was Anna Politkovskaya, writing for Novaya Gazeta, reporting the Chechen war from the other side. Anna visited Chechnya thirty-nine times, uncovering atrocities and human rights abuses. In her dispatches from July 1999 to January 2001, she mainly wrote about Chechen civilian victims caught between the Chechen fighters and the Russian Army.
Politkovskaya’s Assassination
By denouncing human rights violations by Russian state authorities, Politkovskaya made powerful enemies. She was subjected to intimidation by state institutions, officials and semi-official, and was constantly called an enemy by the government established byVladimir Putin in Chechnya. In February 2001, she was detained overnight and repeatedly threatened with rape by senior Russian officers as a consequence of her investigations on a Russian Army torture centre.
Anna Politkovskaya’s murder on October 7, 2006 was a shock for the entire media community. While her assassination was a warning to the independent press that the price for dissident would be death, newspapers and the entire international community showed their anger and incredulity for Anna’s death.
She was a journalist of exceptional courage and determination, whose reporting on the conflict in the Chechenya provided Russian public and the entire world with an independent insight into the stories of ordinary people caught in the conflict. Exceptional journalist and human rights activist, her bravery in standing against war, corruption, demagoguery and social inequality is her legacy to the world.
Sources
- John Pilger and others (2005), Tell me no lies, Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs, edited by John Pilger, Vintage: London.
- Anna Politkovskaya (2010) Nothing But the Truth: Selected Dispatches, Harvill Secker: London.
Elena Mozzato - A political economist specialized in international development, she combines a sound knowledge with a genuine passion for contemporary ...
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