Russia loves Journalism, Justice

If you know Russia, you know how much they love overturning “not guilty” verdicts. If you don’t, well, they do. Case in point, they did that again today

MOSCOW – Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the acquittal of three men charged with the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist whose reporting directly challenged the country's most powerful leaders. A Moscow jury acquitted the defendants — two Chechen brothers and a former policeman — in February after a trial that Politkovskaya's supporters said was undermined by prosecution errors and omissions. The acquittal was an embarrassment for the Russian government, which has appeared eager to fend off charges that journalists and Kremlin critics can be murdered with impunity… At least 16 journalists have died in contract-style slayings or under suspicious circumstances in Russia since 2000. Many more have been assaulted or threatened. Few of the crimes have been solved. [Source: news.yahoo.com].

I read Anna’s last book on the subject of Putin when I was living abroad last year. Pretty disturbing stuff. Not a great read, though. It was a veritable sea of exclamation points. I mean, emotional to the point of being whiney. Boohoo, the justice system here doesn’t work, higher-ups in the military are raping and murdering innocent Chechnyan girls, we have a mafia problem, the government is clandestine and I’m pretty sure they’re killing all my friends! Wahwahwah. God, I thought Russians were supposed to be tough. Man-up and quit being such a little bitch (May she rest in peace).