I guess this hardly counts as news anymore.
So what’s the theory on who’s offing them all? Putin, nationalists, mafia…?
They were there.
(Serious answer: probably the Chechen mafia.)
Or Chechen government. (which is essentially another brand of chechen mafia)
The have already killed several prominent anti-Kadirov (Chechen president) people on Moscow’s streets in bright daylight over the last few years, while russian police did nothing except helped to cover it up.
It’s the Russian criminal-military-industrial complex
Otherwise known as ‘Russia’
The Chechen mafia? Why would they want to kill this guy?
Mr. Markelov, 34, was killed just after holding a news conference. In recent days, he had been fighting against the early release from prison of a Russian colonel who had been convicted of brutally murdering a Chechen woman. The officer, Yuri Budanov, has become a symbol for many of Russia’s gross violations of human rights in Chechnya, since he was one of the few officers ever held accountable. Mr. Budanov’s release a year before the end of his sentence prompted protest demonstrations in Chechnya; Mr. Markelov pointed out that Mr. Budanov’s release contrasted sharply with the treatment of nonviolent political prisoners such as former Yukos oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was denied parole.
I guess there are two kinds of journalists in Russia. Those who are with Putin and those who are dead.
BTW, if Dick Cheney is Emperor Palpatine then who’s Putin? Boba Fett?
Respectfully
krise madsen
From the BBC coverage, it seems more likely that LK is correct–these journalists and lawyers if anything are highly critical of Russian actions in/about Chechnya. I would think it’s much more likely that Putinistas are at fault.
As David Erikson noted, the Chechen mafia are in charge of Chechnya and have whacked anti-government journalists in the past.
True, but it certainly seems, from what little I’ve followed of all this, that these journalists and lawyers are more of a thorn in the side of Moscow than anyone else. That doesn’t preclude Chechens working for Moscow, directly or indirectly, of course. Hell, in Russia, it could be probably any of half a dozen factions I guess. Certainly the thrust of Western commentary I’ve noticed has been suspicion of Kremlin involvement or at least indifference.
Yeah, anti an entirely different government. This guy may have some stuff that’s against the current Chechen government and/or its unofficial mafia allies, but when an Anti-Putin reporter is gunned down in broad daylight on a Moscow street after giving a press conference critical of Putin style justice (with the added zaz of mentioning everyone’s favorite oligarch in captivity)…I feel you are reaching. I mean, why not implicate the Turkmen, since at least they can’t be argued to materially benefit from this journalist’s work? They kill “anti government” journalists as well.
I blame Dubya. I will always blame Dubya.
I agree, if we weren’t screwing around in Iraq, torturing people and saying Putin was a good man when you look into his eyes we could have had some high moral outrage when the first killings happened.
I don’t think it was Dubya. I think it was Cheney. The wheelchair was just an act.
All kidding aside, it does seem that Obama is going to have some interesting diplomatic stuff to sort out. Germany and much of the EU seems to be pretty cozy with Russia right now, not to mention dependent on them for energy. I’m betting whatever outrage Americans might muster up will be met with a cool reception in Europe. I doubt they’re in much of a mood to prod the bear.
Cheney… Che(ch)ney(a)… Chechnya… hmm…
SOMEONE GET ME THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Oh, who cares about these funny stories anymore? It’s just business as usual in Russia!
True, but it certainly seems, from what little I’ve followed of all this, that these journalists and lawyers are more of a thorn in the side of Moscow than anyone else. That doesn’t preclude Chechens working for Moscow, directly or indirectly, of course. Hell, in Russia, it could be probably any of half a dozen factions I guess. Certainly the thrust of Western commentary I’ve noticed has been suspicion of Kremlin involvement or at least indifference.
The Chechen Government does not equal all of the Chechen people, from my reading into the subject the Chechen President is essentially a Kremlin pawn/useful psychopath who tends to help out his friend Vladimir Putin with indiscriminate killings of anyone who oppose him through a shadowy organisation of security services, criminal groups and military types. Russia’s direct role in these killings tends to be in the suppression and frustration of the investigations and perhaps also some low level coordination with the police & russian security services.
Of course trying to find out any direct evidence for these connections will be hard because anyone who starts down this path of investigation ends up shot dead, pushed out of a window or killed with radioactive poisons. The lawyer who was shot (double tap in the back of the head, by the way a very professional job) was investigating the murder of another critic of the Chechen president, killed whilst claiming asylum in Austria. It seems that Putin is content to have his assassains work at one step removed with his tacit approval that they should go on murdering anoyone who opposes his will. I envision him telephoning the Chechen president and saying something like ‘It is a shame, my friend, about all these human rights activists failing to understand my plan for a glorious Russia’, to which the President replies ‘I understand, master’.
Makes sense. It’s all rather grim.