contribution by Naomi Westland

Five years after Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment block, journalists and politicians have warned that investigative journalism in the country has collapsed amid fears of reprisals.

Politkovskaya, a staunch critic of then-president Vladimir Putin and of the wars in Chechnya in 1994 -1996 and 1999-2000, gained international recognition for exposing human rights abuses in the region.

On 7 October 2006, the 48-year-old mother of two was murdered, just over two years after a previous attempt on her life.

She was poisoned as she took a flight to participate in negotiations with terrorists holding hundreds of children hostage at a school in Beslan. In a chilling comment following the murder, Putin dismissed Politkovskaya’s work, saying her political influence had been “insignificant”.

But following a screening in London last week of a film about her life, John Sweeney, an investigative reporter for the BBC’s Panorama said her impact had been vast.

“Anna became the conscience of Russia,” he said.

Chechens will remember that there was at least one Russian who bravely stood up for them and their rights and who tried to tell the truth about what was happening.

Critics will say her work didn’t matter, but there is a growing apathy and sense of disconnection with politicians and also a level of boredom and unease with Putin. Anna’s legacy is a corrective to that.

But her death has made investigative journalists afraid to expose wrongdoing at the top of government. It makes you afraid. You want to investigate Putin, you worry about it.

According to the U.S.-based journalists’ welfare group Committee to Protect Journalists, 76 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992. It says 52 of those were murdered in direct reprisal for their work, including seven since Politkovskaya’s death in 2006.

There is no-one in Russian journalism today “sticking it to power” as Politkovskaya did, said Sweeney.

This void in Russian investigative journalism will only get worse if current prime minister Vladimir Putin takes over the presidency in March 2012, said exiled Chechen prime minister Akhmed Zakayev this week.

“Since her murder the situation in Chechnya is no longer covered at all, there is complete silence over it,” he said.

Mariana Katzarova, founder human rights group RAW in WAR which gives an annual award in Politkovskaya’s name, said that the journalist gave a voice to people who would never otherwise have been heard.

“Thousands of civilians went through torture, forced disappearances, killings, bombardments, but you can count on the fingers of one hand how many people were tried and sentenced to pay for crimes against civilians,” she said.

Bringing justice to those responsible for Politkovkaya’s death has also been slow.

Earlier this month a convicted criminal appeared in court charged with her murder. The Russian news agency RiaNovosti reported that the case was delayed when Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, currently serving a lengthy jail term for attempted murder in an unrelated case, refused the services of the lawyer appointed to him.

In August this year senior Russian police official, Lt Col Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, was arrested in connection Politkovskaya’s death. He had previously been named as a key witness in her case. Rustam Makhmudov, who was arrested in Chechnya in May 2011, has been charged with her murder.

“The arrest of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov would appear to be a step in the right direction,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“But the full truth, and complete justice, will only be delivered once those who ordered [her murder] are also identified and convicted,” he said.

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Naomi Westland is a journalism student at City University

Reader comments

1. Tom Knight

   Five years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder journalists still don't have enough freedom in Russia, says @naomiwestland http://t.co/yaaUT19L

2. richardbrennan

   “The conscience of #Russia”: five years after Anna Politkovskaya’s murder | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/HwMHCKvS via @libcon

3. Silvia Agostini

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4. René Martens

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5. xki_kitxu

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6. Joel Gunter

   Five years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder journalists still don't have enough freedom in Russia, says @naomiwestland http://t.co/yaaUT19L

7. nofrills ?????

   Five years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder journalists still don't have enough freedom in Russia, says @naomiwestland http://t.co/yaaUT19L

8. Jean Pierre

   Five years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder journalists still don't have enough freedom in Russia, says @naomiwestland http://t.co/yaaUT19L

9. keykun

   Five years after Anna Politkovskaya's murder journalists still don't have enough freedom in Russia, says @naomiwestland http://t.co/yaaUT19L

10. Naomi Westland

    My story on journalism in Russia MT @sunny_hundal: Five years after Politkovskaya's murder journos still lack freedom http://t.co/BtL739bO

11. ZNENDrii

    Anna's murder is unsolved,& over 50,000+ Chechnyans dead resistant fighters. http://t.co/1ROSOCU6
    No Justice! http://t.co/jdsxPuJJ