Statement by Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson
U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesperson
October 7, 2013
Seven years after renowned journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed in her apartment building, the mastermind of this crime has not been brought to justice. While the December 2012 conviction and sentencing of a former police officer to eleven years in jail for his part in the murder was a welcome step, the ongoing murder trial of five additional suspects still has not revealed who ordered this terrible crime. We urge redoubled efforts to identify and prosecute all those responsible for Ms. Politkovskaya’s murder.
Anna Politkovskaya’s reporting on the war in the North Caucasus region brought to light the violation of human rights and the suffering of the victims in this conflict. Her unsolved murder, and that of other journalists, including Paul Klebnikov, Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, Kazbek Gakkiyev, and several others in the North Caucasus in recent years, has created an atmosphere of intimidation for those who work to uncover corruption or human rights abuses.