Statement by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Vienna, 7 October 2006. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights is calling upon the Russian Prosecutor General and the Minister of Interior to take control of the investigation of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot in Moscow on 7 October.

Speaking on behalf of the IHF, Executive Director Aaron Rhodes said, “We are shocked, we are disturbed, and we mourn with her family. She was among the very few Russian journalists who investigated the realities of the war in Chechnya, and she was doubtless the bravest. Insofar as the tragic conflict is known and understood at all, it is due in large part to her professionalism and tenacity, for which she appears to have paid with her life.”

For more information: Aaron Rhodes, +43-1-676-635-6612