NUJ Protest: Murder of Anna Politkovskaya

_{Bit of a delayed blog. I’d forgotten to submit this – doh.}

14th October ’06
Russian Embassy, Kensington, London

Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist who openly condemned the Russian Government and who strongly opposed the Chechen conflict. She was shot to death on October 7th, 2006. She is, in fact, the 13th journalist to die in a contract-style killing since Putin came to power.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) held a protest at the Russian Embassy, calling for Yuri Fedotov, the Ambassador, to hold an official inquiry into the killing.

There was some confusion to begin with, with protestors not knowing whether to stand outside the Russian Consulate, or down the road, at the Russian Embassy. I’d always assumed they were one and the same..but apparently not.

They stood opposite the Consulate.

_{Is it me, or does this this guy look uncannily similar to Anna? Hmmm}

There weren’t many protestors as this snapshot shows.

Having said that, it was an enlightening protest. I suppose when there are less people, you have more of a chance to talk to people and find out what their views are.

Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, led the demonstrators to the gates of the Russian Embassy.

They asked to see the Ambassador.

No surprises that the answer was ‘no’.

So, the wreath was placed on the gates, as well as the placards..

..and the police wasted no time in ushering people away, particularly the photographers.

Once we’d left, they wouldn’t let any of us back into the road, and they told us not to take anymore pictures when the wreath was being removed by security.

We still continued to take pictures although none of mine came out particularly well – would have needed a telephoto lens for that! The police began shouting at us to stop and I did, but another photographer carried on. He told me later that the law states that we have the right to take pictures in any public place, and even if the police tell you to stop, it’s not a criminal offence, and I should stand my ground. It’s hard to know what to do in a situation like that, though, and whether it’s worth risking hassle from police.

The wreath was eventually moved from the Embassy, to the Consulate. I have no idea why they had such an issue with that.

The Russian government is known for being corrupt, and I wonder just what part they had to play in this murder. It’s quite likely it was carried out by a Russian citizen – Anna defended the Chechens, which would not have been popular with the Russians.

One thing is for certain – freedom of speech is clearly a dangerous thing.