Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Kremlin Adviser Quits Over Politkovskaya Case

An impromptu memorial to Anna Politkovskaya outside the apartment block in which Anna Politkovskaya was killed (ITAR-TASS)

October 17, 2006 -- A Russian human rights campaigner, Oleg Orlov, has resigned from his position as a Kremlin adviser because he disagrees with President Vladimir Putin's views on the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

TEXT SIZE - +

October 17, 2006

Putin said last week the murder of the reporter, a critic of the Kremlin, was a "disgusting crime". He added the killing did more harm to Russia than her reporting ever had.

The Presidential Council on Promoting Civil Society and Human Rights confirmed receiving a letter of resignation from Orlov, who heads the independent human rights group Memorial.

Supporters of the slain journalist were angered by what they saw as official corruption and abuses, especially in the Kremlin's campaign against insurgents in Chechnya.

Politkovskaya was shot dead on October 7 in a contract-style killing that investigators said was probably linked to her reporting on Chechnya.

(Reuters)

Remembering Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Politkovskaya at RFE/RL in July 2006 (RFE/RL)

A BRAVE VOICE SILENCED. Prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed on October 7 in her Moscow apartment building. An outspoken critic of the Kremlin, she was best-known for her reporting on the conflict in Chechnya. Former Soviet President Gorbachev called her slaying "a true political homicide, a vendetta."

Chechens Mourn Politkovskaya As 'Last Hope'

Politkovskaya Investigating Chechen Torture At Time Of Death

Her Last Interview

Where Was Putin?

Two Journalists Die In Contract Killings A Year

For regular news and analysis on media issues throughout RFE/RL's broadcast area by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Media Matters."

Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

Angry Over Syria, Arab World Threatens Russian Boycott

Groups in a number of Arab states, angry over the Russian-Chinese veto of a UN resolution aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, have called for a one-day boycott of Russian and Chinese goods on February 12. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Protesters gather behind a banner reading "Honest Elections" during a demonstration in Moscow on February 4.

How To Rig An Election

A whistle-blower in Samara explains how the authorities fixed the Duma elections in December -- and plan to do the same in the presidential vote in March. More