Crusading journalist Politkovskaya remembered in Kyiv (10/15/06)

Crusading journalist Politkovskaya remembered in Kyiv

by Olena Labunka and Zenon Zawada
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - A journalist by profession but now a pensioner, Hanna Shapoval came to the Embassy of the Russian Federation wearing a black veil, holding a lit candle and flowers in her hand.

She handled the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, 48, as a deep, personal tragedy. "I heard about this on the radio and I couldn't not come and express my horror," she said.

More than 100 mourners joined Ms. Shapoval in protest in front of the Russian Embassy on October 10 to honor Ms. Politkovskaya, the crusading Russian journalist of Ukrainian descent whose murder three days earlier shocked the world.

Ms. Politkovskaya was murdered in the elevator of her own residence in central Moscow. The gunman left his gun at the murder scene - the signal that it was an assassination.

Colleagues, co-workers and even law-enforcement authorities were convinced Ms. Politkovskaya's murder was related to journalistic works such as "Druha Chechenska" (Second Chechen War), a book that describes the horrors of the war, exposing its absurdity, brutality and inhuman cruelty.

Organized by Ukrainian journalists and the international information agency Yevropeyska Khvylia (European Wave), protesters placed flowers and lit candles at the Embassy's tall metal fence, holding Ms. Politkovskaya's photo and a copy of "Druha Chechenska."

Activists from the Citizens Opposition of Ukraine unveiled a placard that read, "Putin - Murderer" and read aloud Ms. Politkovskaya's works, including "Why I Don't Like Putin" from her book, "Putin's Russia," published in January 2004.

No Russian diplomats addressed the protest. Similar events were also held at the Russian Consulates in Lviv and Symferopol.

During Vladimir Putin's six years as Russian Federation president, 12 journalists have been murdered - the last high-profile case being that of Forbes Magazine's Moscow editor Paul Klebnikov.

Russia ranks third globally in the number of murdered journalists, behind Iraq and Algeria, according to the International Committee to Defend Journalists.

"The words 'Russia' and 'freedom of speech' are incompatible," said Kateryna Borysenko, 29, a literary critic.

Ms. Shapoval said similar murders could still take place in Ukraine, and the new government isn't much better than the one under Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's former president who is widely suspected of playing a role in the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze.

But not everyone agreed.

"At least Ukraine has freedom of speech, and this protest is proof of that," said Natalya Makedon, 66, a professional yachtswoman. "We are here to show our government and the Russian government that they need to learn lessons from Gongadze's murder. This is continuing because his murder has gone unpunished."

Russian officials waited three days before making an official statement on Ms. Politkovskaya's murder.

Neither the Russian nor Chechen governments played any role in the murder, said President Putin during an October 10 press conference in Dresden, the German city where he once worked as a KGB agent.

"Yes, truly, this journalist was a sharp critic of the current government in Russia, but the level of influence she had on the nation's political life was very insignificant," Mr. Putin said.

"The murder of such a person, the horrible murder of a woman, a mother, in itself is directed against our country, against Russia and does the current government significantly more harm than her publications," he added.

Mr. Putin also assured U.S. President George W. Bush that the Russian prosecutor general would conduct an official, objective investigation.

The publishers of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper Ms. Politkovskaya wrote for, have promised a reward of about $1 million for information leading to an arrest.

Among its owners are former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Some of the Kyiv protesters said President Putin's Russia resembles a fascist government.

Yegor Sobolyev, a prominent Ukrainian journalist, said the murder demonstrates just how far Ukraine has progressed ahead of Russia since the Orange Revolution. Russia's democratization "can't be evolutionary," he said. "It will always be revolutionary. And revolutions in Russia have unpredictable results."

The Ukrainian government also was slow in commenting on the murder.

Not until October 11 did the Presidential Secretariat issue a statement. However, it was not directly from President Viktor Yushchenko.

"With deep sorrow, the president of Ukraine learned of this murder," said Oleksander Chalyi, a Presidential Secretariat assistant chair. "He expresses sincere condolences to the victim's family and friends, and believes that this attack upon freedom of speech should be diligently investigated and the guilty brought to justice."

Ms. Politkovskaya will always be remembered in Ukraine as an honest and brave journalist devoted to high ideals of justice, Mr. Chalyi said.

She will also be remembered for her Ukrainian roots: her father was from a village in the Chernihiv Oblast, and her maiden name was Mazepa.

She was born in New York, however, to parents who were Soviet diplomats to the United Nations.

The last time Ms. Politkovskaya had visited Ukraine was exactly two years prior to her murder. She visited Kyiv for a presentation of the Ukrainian version of "Druha Chechenska," published by Kyiv-based Diokor in 2004.

Among those attending the Kyiv protest were Ivan Andrusiak, who translated "Druha Chechenska" into Ukrainian.

He remembered Ms. Politkovskaya as a gentle, fragile woman, who was simultaneously fearless.

"She absolutely didn't fear anything, although she understood well that she could be killed at any moment," he said. "There is no journalist of such caliber in today's Ukraine."

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