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Security tight as slain Kremlin critic remembered
07/10/2007 13:01

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Police clamped tight security on Moscow on Sunday for protests remembering murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya and ahead of a Kremlin birthday party for President Vladimir Putin, whose policies she criticised.

Up to 2,000 people, many holding carnations and pictures of the reporter, attended a sombre rally in Pushkin Square under rainy, cold skies to mark the anniversary of her death.

"We should fight for freedom," the editor of Politkovskaya’s newspaper Dmitry Muratov told the crowd, which also included members of the "Other Russia" dissident group.

"We should keep Anna in our hearts and we should not follow the instructions of Putin".

Hundreds of extra police, some on horseback, patrolled nearby while vanloads of additional officers waited in side streets but no trouble was reported. Local media said 2,500 extra police had been drafted in.

Colleagues had gathered earlier for a private graveside remembrance of the reporter, a mother of two who was gunned down in the lift of her apartment building as she returned home from shopping. No one has yet been convicted of her murder.

A handful of others, including ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov, now an opposition politician, laid flowers at the entrance to her apartment building in Moscow.

State-run television reported the anniversary briefly, showing pictures of an empty street outside Politkovskaya’s apartment building with a few red flowers in a bucket.

Frustrated at the poor turnout, Kasparov told Reuters that Russians were "too passive" and didn’t understand the significance of Politkovskaya’s murder.

"Today is the official celebration of Putin’s birthday but in a few years people will remember this day more for the death of Anna," he said.

KREMLIN PARTY

Putin, who enjoys strong support among Russians, was due to host a birthday reception in the Kremlin, his last as president before he steps down next March, possibly to become prime minister.

The Russian leader cut short his attendance at a meeting of leaders of former Soviet states in Tajikistan on Saturday so he could throw the party for top military officials and friends.

Leaders of Nashi, the largest pro-Kremlin youth organisation were organising a big riverside outdoor party to mark Putin’s 55th birthday.

Putin drew fire in the aftermath of Politkovskaya’s death for describing her influence as "minimal" but later praised her critical writing as an important contribution to public life.

Few Russians, who receive their news from mostly state- controlled media, were aware of Politkovskaya’s work and attendance at commemorative events after her death was not high.

Many supporters have condemned the incomplete police inquiry into her death.

Prosecutors announced the arrest of 11 suspects in August but some were later released for lack of evidence and the chief investigator on the case was sidelined amid accusations of political interference.

Russia’s human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin said a final solution of the murder case was "of crucial importance for the public and the state".

"Establishing the names of the organisers of the murder is the key thing, which has yet to be done," he said on Sunday, Interfax news agency reported.

Prosecutors say the crime was masterminded by anti-Kremlin forces abroad whose aim was to discredit Russia but have not produced any evidence of this.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to Putin last week questioning aspects of the official investigation into Politkovskaya’s death and urging a "thorough, transparent and unbiased" probe.

Reuters

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