Russia: Arrests in Politkovskaya's Murder Case

Ten unnamed people have been arrested in connection with last year's slaying of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Sean's Russia Blog writes that she “as ‘political football’ has been dusted off and re-inflated just in time for a new season.” Robert Amsterdam doesn't think Russian prosecutors are capable of getting their jobs done.

3 comments

  • Sorry, but doesn’t it seem rather ironic for Robert Amsterdam to be saying anything about Russian prosecutors not being capable of doing their jobs?

    Didn’t Russian prosecutors rather quickly put his own famous client behind bars?

    If not ironic, it is certainly indicative of a grudge.

  • Alejandro

    No, it does not seem ironic at all to me for Robert Amsterdam to criticize the prosecutors – do you really believe that they function independently of the Kremlin’s orders?

    Of course he’s got a grudge – who wouldn’t? Those clowns in the procuracy put on some robes and pretend like they are dispensing justice … it’s no wonder the Swiss rejected cooperation with them.

    I think it is crazy for anyone to believe what we are being told about Politkovskaya’s murder this week. Furthermore, I cannot fathom why you are working so hard to defend the preposterous “official story.”

    I understand that you didn’t like her reporting, and from your blog, I can see that you are a big Putin supporter – not that there’s anything wrong with that. But does that mean you think her murderers should be allowed to walk away with impunity?

  • I suppose you didn’t actually read or review my blog at all to make your statement about my support of Putin. But it’s a nice attempt at a straw man. Paint me as unreasonable supporter of Putin and then attack that unreasonability that you created.

    I pointed out that Robert Amsterdam has a client that he was completely incapable of defending and he is very unlikely to be an unbiased commentator on anything the Russian prosecutors office might do, either now or in the future. If you like bias in your news, then accept him at his word. Personally, I see no reason to do so.

    Considering that he is suggesting that the prosecutors office is incapable of convicting in the Politkovskaya case, it is ironic.

    As to the prosecutors independence from the Kremlin, or lack there of – I think you are again building a straw man. I’ll answer it by saying that I think Chaika is as independent to the Kremlin as … Gonzalez was to the White House. In other words, all such people in governments are political appointees and are beholden to some extent to those who appoint them.

    However, what does that mean in regards to this case? They can only build a case around tangible evidence, and from what I read it actually sounds like the investigators have done their homework. Are you suggesting the wrong people have been accused? Or are you suggesting they are not tied to people outside of Russia, such as Berezovsky?

    Where I think there is political influence on the prosecutor is in the premature timing of the announcement, as not all the investigation appears completed. Further, Chaika ties the motive to foreign agents seeking to discredit the Kremlin, which is all too tidy. However, that doesn’t mean that a Chechen criminal boss and group of henchmen, including active and former FSB and police, didn’t decide to murder Politkovskaya. She certainly had no shortage of people that she had offended, even without either the Kremlin or Berezovsky being involved.

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