interview
Status: 07.10.2021 8:27 a.m.
The Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered 15 years ago. Her companion Sokolov from “Novaya Gazeta” speaks about the delayed investigation of the crime – and the dangers to which colleagues are exposed today.
tagesschau.de: Sergei Mikhailovich, when you think back to Anna Politkovskaya, who do you remember?
Sergei Sokolov: To a master of her trade who couldn’t watch when an injustice happened. She had a keen sense of decency and a clear conception of truth and justice.
To person
Sergej Sokolow is the deputy editor-in-chief of “Novaya Gazeta”, for which Anna Politkovskaya reported until she was murdered.
tagesschau.de: Fifteen years ago, the Novaya Gazeta journalist was murdered in the entrance of her Moscow apartment building. How are you going to celebrate the anniversary of the murder of your colleague in the editorial office?
Sokolow: We will put flowers in front of the editorial office in Anna Politkovskaya Garden and open an exhibition in her office about the research after her murder, which is also open to the public. The articles and the film that we have already published on this subject all touch on one topic: the investigators never found the people who commissioned the murder of Anna Politkovskaya – and they do not intend to.
The court ruling against her contract killers would not have come about without the persistence of the lawyers who represent her children and “Novaya Gazeta”. The 15-year limitation period is running out – and we still do not know the names of the client, the agent and other parties involved. Neither is it who will continue the investigation. We are deeply convinced that the political leadership of our country knows the name of the client, but does not consider it politically expedient to hold them accountable.
Six employees of “Novaya Gazeta” are dead
tagesschau.de: What were the consequences of her murder in “Novaya Gazeta”?
Sokolow: We had to stop working in Chechnya for a while because it had become too dangerous. We were able to take them on again, but it inflicted another wound on the editorial team – we have lost six of our employees since the company was founded.
tagesschau.de: In this country Anna Politkovskaya is remembered as an advocate of independent journalism in Russia, in the EU Parliament there is the Anna Politkovskaya press room. Do the young Russian journalists know your name?
Sokolow: Journalists who understand something of their own profession, of course, know them. Those who work for the state media have no use for their memory. As for the Politkovskaya press room, as far as I know, an official press conference with representatives of Russia has not yet been held there – because they do not want to enter it.
“Actual professional ban for journalists”
tagesschau.de: What would she say about the current situation of journalists in Russia? After all, none of them was killed in the end …
Sokolov: The question of whether nobody is killed is still a question: they are more likely to be driven to suicide by bans – everyone still well remembers the tragic death of the journalist Irina Slawina from Nizhny Novgorod, who set herself on fire in front of the police headquarters in their city in 2020.
There is still a hard core in Russian journalism that does its job professionally, but nothing more. I don’t think Anna Politkovskaya would even think about this question. It was not industry problems that were important to her, but her own work.
tagesschau.de: What is Russian journalism headed for? More and more colleagues and editorial offices are classified as so-called foreign agents or declared extremists …
Sokolov: Efforts are being made to marginalize the independent press as much as possible and to cut off any opportunity to make a living from its work. De facto, journalists who are critical of the government or who simply work independently are banned from being classified as “foreign agents” and “extremists”. Officially, there is no censorship, but there are preliminary stages which, in the form of Roskomnadzor, are carried out by a state authority. The prospects for journalism in Russia are bleak.
“Today pressure comes from another place”
tagesschau.de: Perhaps you have already got used to the sustained pressure at “Novaya Gazeta”?
Sokolow: The ways in which pressure is applied are constantly changing. A complaint is made against us so that we too should be classified as so-called foreign agents or extremists. We are fined with every sound. There have already been three attempts to classify articles as “fake news” and to ban them (Since 2019, Russian online media can be blocked and heavy fines if the attorney general accuses them of spreading false news, editor’s note)without checking them. So the pressure is simply coming from a different place today.
tagesschau.de: Is there anyone in Russia today whose status is comparable to Anna Politkowskaja’s importance as a journalist?
Sokolow: It is impossible to take your place because every person is unique and their talents are different. But we have excellent staff who deal with reporting on Chechnya and political repression – those were two of their priorities. We cannot get over your loss, but we try to carry on your issues.
The interview was conducted by Jasper Steinlein, tagesschau.de.