Details are beginning to emerge about the the two suspects held on suspicion of gunning down fearless human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta intern Anastasia Baburova on January 19th this year. It appears that one of the pair, both of whom are suspected of being members of an untranationalist organization, has confessed to the crime. Whilst we are often lamenting the lack of justice in relation to the astounding number of slayings of journalists and activists which remain unsolved (indeed in some cases, unremarked upon by the Kremlin), many rights advocates are wary of jumping to the conclusion that what we are seeing today represents a breakthrough in transparency and justice-seeking. Many hurdles remain, as an article in the New York Times suggests:
The mood among Mr. Markelov's friends was less triumphant. A growing list of journalists and political activists have been killed in recent years, but few of those cases have ended in prosecution. Those that have, notably the shootings of the journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Paul Klebnikov, have identified only low-level criminals or have fallen apart in the courtroom.
"Until the case is closed, it's not closed," said Aleksandr Cherkasov of the rights organization Memorial, who was a close friend of Mr. Markelov's. "Will it be a jury trial? Will the prosecutors be able to prove their case? How much opportunity will there be to manipulate the jury, or influence the jury? So this is not finished."Read all here.
"I have no feeling of relief," he added, "because none of this will resurrect a person."
Confession? Since when did we start caring about confessions in Russia? Anybody recall the Stalin confessions?
Even if he actually pulled the trigger, who ordered it? Anybody think we'll ever get an answer to that question, or that if the Kremlin ordered it there is any earthly way that could ever come out in court?
The article says "it was largely due to Markelov" that friends of the accused killer "received serious sentences" in another murder.
I'm not prepared to accept that Markelov could force a Russian court to issue a sentence it otherwise would not have, nor am I prepared to accept that a crude thug on the run like this fellow is depicted as being could have organized an assassination like this on his own. Nor am I prepared to believe that Russian forces were suddenly able to "find" this fellow when he as already fingered in a prior murder.
As Belov states in the article: "I am doubtful because frequently these days, and especially on holidays, Russian special forces detain people who are not guilty of anything in order to show their effectiveness."