From the Wall Street Journal editorial on Russia's claim that the murder of Anna Politkovskaya was ordered from abroad by an opponent of the government:
To be sure, Ms. Politkovskaya's writing had made her enemies in far-flung places, and, sadly, in today's Russia few possibilities in such a crime can be ruled out. It may be that investigators have indeed identified the guilty parties.The inclusion of some mid-level Russian security officers among the jailed gives the charges a hint of believability since, as Novaya Gazeta's editorial noted, the "interpenetration of crime and law-enforcement bodies" was one of Politkovskaya's recurring themes. But Mr. Chaika's sweeping dismissal of even the possibility that someone within Russia ordered the killing undermines his credibility in equal part.
Amid the murkiness, one thing is certain: Anna Politkovskaya would not have bought the government's line in such a story without substantial evidence to back it up. To accept anything less would be to dishonor her memory.
