June 13, 2011
Jessica Golloher | Moscow
Photo: REUTERS
A 2009 file photo shows a man holding a portrait of killed journalist Anna Politkovskaya as a woman lays flowers during a commemorative rally in St.Petersburg
The suspects in the murder of 16 Russian journalists remain at large, according to a recent poll by the Committee to Protect Journalists. It’s very rare, in the former Soviet Union, for the Kremlin to make any arrests in the murders, and even if they do, many of those, who are apprehended, eventually go free. But, the recent arrest and convictions in two high-profile cases, have many wondering if the Kremlin is finally cracking down or if it political maneuvering in the run up to next year’s presidential elections.
It was top news all over Russia. Police said they finally arrested 36-year-old Chechen Rustam Makhmudov in the 2006 high-profile shooting of prominent journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Politkovskaya covered the war in Chechnya and was often critical of the Kremlin and its alleged human ...