アンナ・ポリトコフスカヤ射殺される
モスクワ──ロシアのプーチン政権によるチェチェン政策を率直に批判してきた女性記者アンナ・ポリトコフスカヤさんが（４８）が７日、自宅アパートのエレベーター内で射殺体で発見された。検察当局は、ポリトコフスカヤさんの取材・執筆活動と何らかの関連があると見て捜査を進めている。現場からは拳銃や弾丸が発見された。また、ロシア通信が警察当局者の発言として伝えたところによると、遺体の２カ所に銃撃された跡があり、うち１カ所は頭部だった。
New York Timesがかなり突っこんだ報道を行っている。
Her death came on the birthday of President Vladimir Putin and two days after one of her bitterest critics, the pro-Moscow prime minister of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of the ex-President, had his 30th birthday, prompting speculation her life had been taken as a gift to both men.
また、その記事でモスクワの人権団体Center Demosの議長Tanya Lokshinaが「ポリトコフスカヤはもう長いあいだ危険を冒し続けてきたので、危険など超越しているようにみえたのです」と語っている。同じ気持ちだった人は多いだろう。
Mr. Yaroshevsky said that Ms. Politkovskaya had been at work on Saturday finishing an article for the Monday paper about torturers in the government of Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the pro-Kremlin premier of Chechnya. He said the story included evidence and pictures.In an interview in April with The New York Times, Ms. Politkovskaya said she had evidence of torture in Chechnya by Mr. Kadyrov’s police and other gunmen, including at least one witness who had been tortured by Mr. Kadyrov himself. Mr. Kadyrov has always vigorously denied such allegations.
Mr. Yaroshevsky said there were no immediate theories about who might be behind her killing, and noted that it might be convenient for an enemy of Mr. Kadyrov to kill Ms. Politkovskaya in order to blacken the Chechen premier’s name.
The paper had been expecting her to file the article on Saturday night, he said, and she had apparently been killed after she left her apartment for a trip to a nearby store. The RTR television station reported that investigators believed that she had been followed throughout the day.
