Russian Human Rights Lawyer Assassinated

Ever since I read Leo Tolstoy’s “Hadji Murat“, about a 19th century Chechen folk hero’s last stand against Russian imperial troops, I’ve had a weird interest in the Chechen cause. Isolated by geography, culture and religion, the people of Chechnya have been struggling to resist occupation by Persians, Turks, Russians, then Soviets, and now Russians again. I remember in 1994 when Yeltsin declared war on the Chechens, and sent in troops. Two years later, the Russian troops were defeated, and it seemed that Chechnya had its first chance at real political autonomy. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to last, and in 1999, the conflict erupted again and the region has been embroiled in brutality ever since, although now it is a somewhat stable “federal republic.”

The news on Monday of the contract killing of Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova illustrates just how volatile and brutal this conflict still is; it also illustrates the incredible, heroic sacrifice that people are willing to make for a just cause. Apparently, Markelov had been receiving death threats via text message regarding his role in prosecuting a Russian army colonel who was convicted of the murder of a Chechen teenager, but he had continued with the case. After leaving a press conference, he was shot in the head in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded street in Moscow, a short walking distance from the Kremlin. The young journalism student and activist, Anastasia Baburova, had tried to prevent the assassin from leaving, and was herself also fatally shot. For a more detailed account of this tragedy that we certainly won’t be hearing about on NPR, check out the excellent blog Al-Masakin News Agency.