Anna Politkovskaya's anti-cynicism

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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kolesnikov) - Anna Politkovskaya's assassination resembles other high-profile murders of journalists, from Dmitry Kholodov to Paul Khlebnikov. They were all investigative reporters. Politkovskaya had a famous name and wrote on a sensitive subject, Chechnya.

Any investigation is dangerous, and even more so when it comes to the once rebellious republic. The murder of a journalist is a clear signal that the situation in Chechnya is far from being normal. Formally, the war is over, but it's still too early to forget about it. Anna was not merely killed by a contract assassin - she was killed in action during "peaceful times". This war will continue to affect its former and current participants for a long time to come; its inertia has proved to be too powerful.

Anna Politkovskaya wrote about human-rights issues, and her articles were very passionate - working in the field of human rights inevitably stirs up emotions and involves a journalist in the personal destinies of the people whom he or she describes and protects. This kind of journalism has the right to be naive and high-flown because it is not cynical by definition. It is not motivated by higher interests, and it does not reconcile itself to the inevitable and unjust course of events.

In one of her recent articles on Russian politics, Anna used the word "anti-cynicism". Absence of cynicism, as well as the struggle against it, was typical of her style and guided everything she wrote.

The murder of a public figure is meant to be breaking news and to demonstrate something. Such crimes are always high-profile, cloaked in a veil of secrecy, and have a wide range of suspects. They are difficult to solve both for practical and political reasons. This is what those behind such murders always hope for.

The easiest thing would be to accuse the current Chechen authorities, specifically Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. Many of Anna's articles were directed against him. But such a simplistic idea gives way to a more logical conclusion - the murder is in the interests of those who want to lay the blame on the Chechen leader.

There are already many theories, and perhaps there will be more. Most probably, the investigation will lead nowhere. This would be very sad because a human life is too high a price for one more reminder of Russia's moral, political, and social problems.

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