Sergei Khadjikurbanov was to be released in 2030. The former Russian police officer is however already free. Sentenced by Russian justice to twenty years in prison for his complicity in the assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, which shocked the world in 2006, he benefited from a presidential pardon, signed by Vladimir Putin. Because, like dozens of perpetrators of serious crimes before him, Sergei Khadjikurbanov signed an agreement with the Kremlin.
Moscow, struggling in Ukraine, has in fact proposed an arrangement to its prison population: in exchange for their services at the front for six months, they can benefit from a pardon on their return. If they come back. The principle, established by the Wagner paramilitary group and since taken up by the Russian army, allowed the Kremlin to expand its troops in Ukraine. But twenty long months after the start of the offensive, a host of these criminals returned to the country. To the despair of the relatives of their victims but also, in certain cases, to general astonishment.
A “fundamentally political” and “symbolic” affair
Because the death of Anna Politkovskaïa left its mark. “She was a remarkable journalist, an exceptional woman, very courageous, who investigated the crimes of the Russian army in Chechnya,” recalls Jean de Gliniasty, research director at Iris (Institute of International and Strategic Relations) . The former ambassador to Moscow between 2009 and 2013 remembers that his assassination “had a lot of resonance at the time, even if it made more noise on the international scene”. “It’s very symbolic. The fact that an accomplice in the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya was pardoned makes a lot of people uncomfortable,” notes Galia Ackerman, editorial director of the online media Desk Russia.
The political dimension of the assassination of this independent journalist, already poisoned in 2004 while she was on her way to negotiations during the hostage-taking at the Dubrovka theater, contributed to its international impact. “She was hated by the probable instigator of the crime, Ramzan Kadyrov, and was not in the odor of sanctity in the Kremlin either,” recalls Jean de Gliniasty, who slips: I am convinced that those in power will not wish to resuscitate the Politkovskaya affair. » “It is a fundamentally political affair and which also affects a sensitive element for those in power: its absolute desire not to embarrass Kadyrov, who runs Chechnya,” he analyzes.
The emblem of a global system
However, in Russia, the pardon of Sergei Khadjikurbanov risks going relatively unnoticed. “In France, Anna Politkovskaya’s books were published during her lifetime, while in Russia, she only managed to publish one. She did not have access to television and was not allowed to publish in any media other than her own, “Novaya Gazeta”. And Putinian propaganda has done everything to ensure that his name disappears from the radar since then,” analyzes Galia Ackerman. Over the years, the Kremlin has increased its control over the media. “Today, the press is completely closed off, we can’t even talk about the war. This is not comparable to the situation in 2006,” underlines Jean de Gliniasty.
It’s hard to imagine, therefore, that this pardon would make the headlines on Russian television news when the government has an interest in remaining discreet. And if the release of Sergei Khadjikurbanov serves as an emblem of this recruitment system at the heart of prisons, for the Russians, it has the dimension of one return among many others. “Even though it means a lot to me personally as Anna’s friend, it’s not extraordinary in itself. There have been hundreds and hundreds of people who committed serious crimes before being sent to the front and have since been pardoned,” notes Galia Ackerman.
Ghosts who cause concern
Last Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recalled that “people convicted, including for serious crimes, atone for their crime with blood on the battlefield.” “This notion of redemption through patriotic action, inherited from orthodoxy, is quite significant in the Russian mentality. During the Second World War, Moscow also offered many gulag prisoners the opportunity to form battalions in order to redeem themselves and exempt themselves from the sentences imposed on them,” recalls Jean de Gliniasty. Moscow, however, immediately excludes political prisoners from this agreement. But the sorting seems to stop there. “Public opinion could have accepted this idea of redemption but when it comes to terrible crimes, it is obviously less acceptable. They took anyone,” criticizes the research director.
Like the returnees from Syria to France, these returns obviously arouse concern among the Russian population. Seen from France, the pardon of Sergei Khadjikourbanov is particularly representative of this recruitment system. But in Russia, public opinion was especially marked by the Kemerovo affair, in Siberia. A 23-year-old young woman, Vera Pekhteleva, was killed in 2020 by her former boyfriend who tortured, raped and finally killed her with the cord of an iron. Sentenced to seventeen years in prison, his torturer is now back in Kemerovo, free. He benefited from the same agreement as Sergei Khadjikourbanov. “These criminals haunt the scene of their crime when they return,” underlines Jean de Gliniasty.
“War heroes” whose past should not be discussed
In Russia, as in most countries at war, those killed in combat are revered, regardless of their past. “In many classrooms, decorated school tables are created and kept empty in honor of the ‘killed hero’ who studied at the school when he was a child,” says Galia Ackerman. When the “hero” in question is also a murderer or a rapist, “publicity about his background is not welcome” because it contravenes this “cult of war”.
“Russian media have been instructed to no longer report the criminal records of those returning from the front, in the hope of avoiding inciting the population,” assures Galia Ackerman. “They are even considering allowing them to become sports teachers at school, in order to help their reintegration,” assures the Russia specialist. However, at least three of these pardoned criminals have already committed a new murder upon their return, according to the independent Russian news site Agentstvo. So from the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya to the feminicide of Kemerovo, seen from the Kremlin, the watchword remains the same: silence is golden.