Recent developments into investigations of Russian journalists’ murders, attempts to accuse publicists and writers of extremism and other crimes, and the Duma’s legislative activities prompts the thought that the major task of Russian authorities is to fight against media and writers, rather than criminals.

On September 12, Kommersant Daily reported that the prosecutor’s office of Moscow Central Administrative District closed the criminal investigation into the March death of Kommersant defense correspondent Ivan Safronov because of “an absence of foul play.”

Safronov allegedly threw himself out of the staircase window in his apartment building without any obvious reason, despite a successful career and happy family life. He was a respected military correspondent who often covered sensitive issues in the fields of defense, the army, and space. The prosecutors opened a criminal case on "incitement to suicide," but failed to find neither those who prompted the journalist to commit suicide nor personal motives Safronov may have had for seeking death. At the same time, according to Kommersant’s deputy editor, Iliya Bulavinov, investigators totally neglected the possibility of work-related incitement to suicide, and the case was not fully investigated.

On August 27, the Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika claimed the arrest of 10 suspects in the murder of prominent Novaya Gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Four of the suspects have been charged. Chaika also reported that in addition to members of a criminal gang, some current and former police and Federal Security Service officers helped organize the murder. The reports brought some hope to the dead journalists’ families and colleagues, as this was the first more or less effective investigation among approximately 47 work-related murders of journalists in Russia since 1992.

Then, within two days of the release of Chaika’s report, two former policemen suspected in Politkovskaya’s murder were released. The prosecutor’s statement on the masterminds of the murder seriously confused the journalist’s colleagues. Novaya Gazeta’s Roman Shleinov reported that the Prosecutor General “repeated almost word for word a statement President Vladimir Putin made in the immediate aftermath of Politkovskaya’s murder, blaming forces outside Russia for attempting to undermine the current situation in the country.” For Novaya Gazeta’s journalists, this was a sign that further investigation into Politkovskaya’s murder may turn on the direction of some political order.

Politicized murders are definitely very hard to investigate, considering the high level of corruption in Russian law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless, some weighty cases actually are investigated, although the perpetrators are often not charged.

In June 2004, well-known St. Petersburg journalist Maksim Maksimov disappeared. Investigators managed to find and arrest the suspects. Two witnesses provided a full description of Maksimov’s murder, and others added details. The story appeared in local and international media many times. However, since the suspects are experienced officers from the corruption division of the Internal Affairs Ministry, the prosecutors have had trouble bringing them to justice. The formal reason for this is that Maksimov’s body was never found. Unofficial sources say the suspected officers boast that they have high-ranking patrons that will soon help set them free.

Meanwhile, Manana Aslamazyan, the head of Educated Media Foundation, an organization which provides professional training for Russian journalists, mistakenly violated an administrative code and was quickly proclaimed a criminal. The Foundation was shut down. In Nizhny Novgorod, police confiscated all of Novaya Gazeta’s computers “to check for unlicensed software.” Krasnodar prosecutors found “signs of extremism” in the books of respected political scientist Andrey Piontkovsky. Moscow prosecutors have threatened lawyer and writer Pavel Astakhov with libel because Astakhov described corrupt Russian policemen in a novel. Well known historian and journalist Vladimir Pribylovsky is suspected in extremism. The celebrated satirist Victor Shenderovich is suspected in enticing ethnic and national hatred. However, when someone shot at Moscow investigative reporter Andrey Kalitin police refused to open an attempted murder case, insisting that this was just a case of hooliganism.

The Sate Duma seems to support and feed these developments. The parliament’s lower chamber is ready to consider a new bill which bans mentioning nationality and religion in recounting crimes and their victims. Rather than beating nationalism and extremism, this law will obstruct the spread of information about hate crimes and nationalism in Russia. The previous Duma’s anti-extremism amendments gave law enforcement agencies more opportunities to silence journalists and suspend media.

Investigating contract-style murders, disappearances, and motiveless suicides is certainly much more difficult than boosting libel cases and catching journalism educators red-handed for customs rules violations. Hopefully, the new government, which is meant to fight corruption, and the next parliament will at least reevaluate the priorities in the work of law enforcement agencies. Otherwise, when it comes to journalists and writers, their work will continue to look more like witch-hunting than fighting crime.

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"In the Spotlight" image (c) Masta Bord.