Arrests in Russian Reporter Murder

Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika caused a sensation on Monday when he announced the arrest of ten suspects in last October's murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya: One of the suspected killers is an active duty Lieutenant-Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov in the Federal Security Service (FSB), while others include four more still unidentified law enforcement officers, both active and retired. Prosecutors stated that the suspects were part of a gang, allegedly led by a Chechen criminal, specializing in contract murders — and suggested that they could also have been involved in the murder of American journalist Paul Khlebnikov and First Deputy Central Bank Chairman Andrei Kozlov. They also suggested the gang operated on orders of someone "living abroad" with whom Politkovskaya frequently met, a statement widely interpreted in Moscow as a hint implicating Boris Berezovsky, once Putin's ally, now his enemy in self-exile in London and frequently accused by the Kremlin for all manner of skullduggery.

The news certainly completes a turnaround in official attitudes to the murder of a journalist who dedicated her life to exposing human rights abuses. Putin's first reaction to Politkovskaya's death had been dismissive: "Her political influence in this country was insignificant," he said. Following harsh Western reaction, Putin called the murder "hideous," and ordered the culprits found. And, particularly in an election year, Putin's orders are followed. Finding the murderers of an opposition journalist, particularly if the culprits include current or former members of the security services, could help Putin make a claim that nobody in Russia is above the law — even while dumping more allegations at Berezovsky's door.

And past experience is a sharp reminder that being accused of murder in Russia is no guarantee of being convicted. In October 1994, a young journalist, Dmitri Kholodov was killed as he opened a booby-trapped briefcase in his office at the Moskovski Komsomolets daily. Kholodov had been actively pursuing the corruption among the top military brass — particularly on the alleged involvement of then Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. The newspaper immediately accused Grachev of ordering special forces professionals to commit the murder. It took four years to arrest Colonel Pavel Popovskykh, Chief of the Airborne Forces Intelligence at the time of the Kholodov murder, and five of his officers. It took another four years to conduct their trial, which ended with all six defendants acquitted in June 2002. Popovskykh demanded, and received, public apologies from the Prosecutor General's Office and some $80,000 in compensation.

The track record suggests that the success or failure of such cases may, in fact, depend on which outcome is preferred by those in power. And in the case of Anna Politkovskaya, the answer remains unclear.