WHO KILLED ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA?

Four years into the unsolved murder of AnnaPolitkovskaya, the global community of journalists is still waiting for her murderer to be brought to justice. No one has been named for ordering her killing, and the three suspects held by the police were acquitted last year and a new investigation ordered. A few days before the anniversary of her death, the Federal Investigative Committee announced that the investigation would go to February 2011. In a further move to take the sting out of continued criticism, investigators announced they will pursue the unsolved murder of 19 Russian journalists, including Politkovskaya. As several hundred people including journalists, editors, human rights activists, as well as opposition politicians and cultural celebrities held a vigil in Moscow to remember Anna, the global community of journalists remains dismayed that neither the gunman nor the person who ordered her killing had been found.

The scandal of impunity remains a crucial issue for us not just in Russia but also all over the world, and we are determined to continue to campaign for governments to bring the killers of journalists to justice. Last month, we commemorated the tenth anniversary of the murder of Gyorgy Gongadze in the Ukraine. In this case too, the investigation has been dragged out for many years and, despite twists and turns, it isstill unable to identify the killers and those who ordered the killing.

We will never forget these colleagues and the sacrifice they made in the cause of free journalism. We will continue to honour them and to combat at every opportunity the injustice of impunity.