From: Richard Henderson

Location: Berkhamsted, UK

Date: 8th October 2006

I want to express my respect for the life of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who reported on human rights abuses in Chechnya, and who was found shot dead in Moscow yesterday.

While I am in no position to draw a connection between President Putin and the stifling of this brave investigative journalist, I share the views of those who feel that he has a sad authoritarian mentality, that has led to growing pressure on the free press inside Russia.

The suppression of a free press is a sign of a drift towards dictatorship and has no place in a democracy.

Moreover, I take the view that a more enlightened policy is needed towards Chechnya, and that the Chechen people have a right to determine for themselves the lives they lead and the future they want to create, without Russian interference or the oppressive presence of Russian forces.

President Putin has attempted to link the struggle for Chechen freedom with the West's war on terror, and Washington and London have appeared craven in their 'blind eye' to so much of what has been going on in Chechnya.

Yes, there have been atrocities on both sides, but the fact remains that Chechnya is still being controlled as a Russian colony, its aspirations for self-determination crushed, and terrible things covered up.

Anna Politkovskaya did not turn a 'blind eye'. She could not accept that bad things should be covered up. She had received death threats before but she continued to report with courageous honesty.

"I think the duty of doctors is to give health to their patients, the duty of the singer to sing, and the duty of the journalist is to write what this journalist sees in reality," she said.

She would not stop reporting what she saw, so she was stopped.

Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006)

From: Mary Scott

Location: USA

Date: 9th October 2006

My sincere condolences to her and her family. I am not normally someone who does this sort of thing but her death somehow moved me. Not in the political sense as much as it moved me in the name of Freedom. We so take it for granted in this country and in her country she fought so hard for it. Such a tragic loss for everyone. Shame on people for silencing her. It just makes others much stronger.

From: Richard N. Winfield & E. Markham Bench (World Press Freedom Committee)

Location: Reston, Virginia, USA

Date: 10th October 2006

To His Excellency Vladimir Putin President of the Russian Federation, The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

Your Excellency:

We are amazed and outraged at the brazen murder in Moscow this weekend of the celebrated Russian investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. This killing raises dramatically the issues of the future of press freedom and of the impunity of the assassins of journalists in your country.

Given that Ms. Politkovskaya was widely celebrated as an uncompromising critic of the Russian army’s conduct of the war in Chechnya, this is an opportunity to demonstrate that the system of justice is evenhanded and that the defense of freedom of expression and of the right to criticize public policy and its execution are not empty words.

With all due respect and in the interests of justice and of the image and reputation of Russia, we call upon you to see to it that you insure that the criminal investigative authorities conduct as complete an inquiry as possible so as to bring those responsible to book, regardless of who they may be.

Russia’s reputation as a country of law where justice is both done and seen to be done hinges on the action of the state authorities in this case.

Respectfully,

Richard N. Winfield (Chairman), E. Markham Bench (Executive Director)

(World Press Freedom Committee - www.wpfc.org )

From: Dr Agnes Callamard (Executive Director, Article 19)

Location: London, UK

Date: 11th October 2006

From: Dr. Agnès Callamard, Executive Director, ARTICLE 19; Jonathan Heawood, Director, English PEN; and Ursula Owen, Index on Censorship

Forwarded by Federica Prina, ARTICLE 19 (the Global Campaign for Free Expression), 6-8 Amwell Street, London EC1R 1UQ. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7239 1186. www.article19.org

To: President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Dear Mr President,

ARTICLE 19, Index on Censorship and English PEN were deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, last Saturday, 7 October 2006. We are also profoundly concerned with the alarming state of freedom of expression protection in the Russian Federation.

Ms Politkovskaya was an internationally respected journalist who provided critical, analytical coverage of the Chechnya conflict, despite the considerable personal risks that such work entails. She had received threats repeatedly for the past few years and was ultimately shot dead on the staircase of her apartment block in Moscow, in what looks like a contract killing.

This murder is yet another example of an alarming pattern in the Russian Federation, observed and documented by ARTICLE 19 and many others in Russia and internationally: investigating conflict and politically sensitive issues is a dangerous and even life-threatening undertaking.

According to her editor, Dmitry Muratov, Ms Politkovskaya was about to publish a story on torture practices believed to be used by security services in Chechnya. This is just the last one of numerous investigative reports produced by Ms Politkovskaya, in which she criticised the State authorities' behavior in relation to the conflict in the North Caucasus.

Four days after her murder, rumors and allegations already abound, including those alleging that persons associated with the government in Chechnya and its security forces might carry some responsibility for her murder. In this respect, it is of paramount importance that a thorough, timely and impartial investigation be carried out, and that those responsible be brought to justice.

Ms Politkovskaya's death is evidence of the Russian government's thorough failure to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantee the right to freedom of expression in similar terms and are both legally binding on the Russian Federation, do not only place an obligation on governments to refrain from interfering in the work of the media.

They also oblige governments to create an environment that encourages pluralism and political debate, and where a diverse media can operate safely and without obstruction. Such an environment currently does not exist in the Russian Federation.

We therefore call on:

>>>" Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika to ensure a full and impartial investigation of Ms Politkovskaya's murder, so as to bring to justice those who committed the crime, as well as those who may have ordered it;"

>>>The Government of the Russian Federation and President Putin to take measures as a matter of urgency to reverse the trend of deteriorating protection of journalists. It sharply diminishes the quality of Russia's investigative media reporting, and deprives the public of their right to information and debate on matters of public importance; it also weakens the Russia Federation's democratic credibility on the world stage;"

>>>The State Duma, and particularly the Committee on Information Policy, to set up a parliamentary enquiry into the case and its repercussions on freedom of expression in Russia.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Agnès Callamard, Executive Director, ARTICLE 19; Jonathan Heawood, Director, English PEN; and Ursula Owen, Index on Censorship

From: Raymond Louw (Editor and Publisher, "Southern Africa Report" and Africa representative of the World Press Freedom Committee)

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Date: 16th October 2006

Anna Politkovskaya

This is a small tribute to a courageous journalist whose work in Russia and Chechnya has been admired by her colleagues around the world. Her bravery and dedication to the highest principles of journalism will remain a bright beacon in the bleak landscape of an increasingly authoritarian Russia under the government of Vladimir Putin who exhibits little tolerance of a free media.

The death of this determined journalist -- after so many other violent deaths in Russia, none of which has resulted in an arrest -- casts a pall over the media in that country and has horrified us here in southern Africa.

From: Gerry Jackson

Location: SW Radio Africa - Zimbabwe's Independent Voice

Date: 18th October 2006

The staff of SWRA would like to express their respect for a fellow journalist who has paid the ultimate price for her work.

We also fight a regime and know how difficult this is, and how much of your personal life you have to give up. If everyone would have the bravery and integrity of Anna Politkovskaya, the world would not be as it is.

Gerry Jackson (Station Manager)

www.swradioafrica.com

From: Ivan Lozowy (President of the Institute of Statehood and Democracy)

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine

Date: 19th October 2006

Anna Politkovskaya

Though I was never fortunate enough to have made her acquaintance, I know that Anna Politkovskaya was a giant of our time.

So possessed was she by the principles of truth, justice and humanity that she disregarded all other possible concerns during the brief time she worked among us. Anna wrote directly and without a shred of compromise. Because of her high moral standards, she was inconvenient not only to Russia's rulers and many ordinary Russians, but to much of the West, so accustomed to compromise, diluted standards and so distant from the horrors of Chechnya.

Chechnya drew her to it, attracting Anna Politkovskaya because she knew that the measure of Russia's future being is set by what is happening in this tiny Caucasus nation. She wrote about the horrors of Chechnya because she cared for Russia so deeply. It is her voice that Russia sorely needs and it is her voice that today's official Russia has silenced.

Without a doubt, Anna knew that the likely price for her work was her own death. But I believe that, to her, death was not a source of fear, except perhaps of the possibility that she would not accomplish as much as she would have hoped.

Anna Politkovskaya spoke directly and uncompromisingly to what makes us human. She will be remembered longer than Russia's current rulers and her legacy will be more lasting than theirs.

From: Alexis Navratil

Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Date: 22nd October 2006

Firstly, my condolences not only to her family but to those in any oppressed nations who mourn her bravery and the hope she instilled through her courage to speak.

I am in my last year of high school here in Chicago, and one of the requirements for graduation is to write a paper about the nature of justice while relating it to a current injustice in the world. I had chosen Chechnya. This was before Anna Politkovskaya's murder. I bought her book, A Small Corner of Hell, and was just about to begin my first draft of my justice paper, when I found out about her assassination.

I think it is disgusting that Mr. Putin veils his twisted dictatorial government with the name of Democracy. He has systematically shut down the elections, changed elected governors to appointed ones, oppressed the people, and even abused the rights of the Chechen people. The world has had enough Mr. Putin. How safe do you feel? Maybe the ground won't shake right away, but sooner or later another journalist will be killed...and the world will again remember the death of Anna Politkovskaya and the other journalists. You cannot hide forever, Kremlin. The world is watching.

From: Heidi Hoogerbeets

Location: New York, USA

Date: 4th November 2006

I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to Anna Politkovskaya’s family, friends, and colleagues at “Novaya Gazeta.” No words can express the tremendous grief that I and countless others felt upon hearing of her death!

For as long as I can remember, I've had a deep connection to Russia and the Russian people, and Anna Politkovskaya has been a precious inspiration as a professional, a mother, and a woman of impenetrable strength, courage, and remarkable values! In my mind, there's no greater beauty than giving a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves! Anna gave so many people a voice!

The bullets that pierced Anna Politkovskaya’s body may have killed her, but they didn’t silence her spirit! I’m confident that she will remain alive in our minds, transcending all cultural boundaries in every corner of the world, serving as a perpetual reminder of the impact of truth embodied in journalism! Cheers to every individual voice in Russia and around the world devoted to illuminating truth, and fighting those who aim to thwart press freedom!

Yours Faithfully,

Heidi Hoogerbeets

New York, NY USA

From: Claudio Canal

Location: Torino, Italy

Date: 14th November 2006

Dies Irae per Anna Politkovskaya

Oratorio piccolo di suoni e parole

di/con

Claudio Canal e Simona Colonna

violoncello e voce

Francesco Vietti

Vesna Cepanovic

libreria Torredi Abele

via p. micca

22

Torino

giovedi 16 Novembre

ore 18.30

info: 011.531267 / 011.537777

claunal (at) libero.it

From: Nikita Zharinov LLB (Journalist and Editor)

Location: Russia

Date: 15th November 2006

It becomes more and more dangerous to give one's opinion on different aspects of the political situation in Russia if it doesn't correspond with the official point of view. Journalists are being killed for not reporting the news shown to the best advantage for official authorities, government or whatsoever. Very few choose to tell the truth, and it becomes very hard to fulfil this worthy duty within the political mainstream. The mixture of censorship and self-censorship as a result of fear is very oppressing.

Living in the present-day reality and receiving the correct and true information about facts and events in one's own country as well as beyond its borders is one of the greatest and the most valuable assets of society at its present stage, vital for every community big or small, local or international, for the country and its people. Journalists are probably the channels through which this true information could be delivered.

Depriving people of it is the worst of all evils, violating their basic human rights. Constraints, boundaries and limits created by the pressure of public forces, external or internal, no matter what interest they may represent, are absolutely intolerable and unbearable. The principal target for any journalist is to defy this ascendancy and pressure, but on condition of being prepared to receive a bullet as a gift.

It is very hard to survive in Russia, if you can stay neither indifferent nor silent. And I have only one question to ask: how many journalists and human rights activists are to be murdered before something will change?

Mr Nikita Zharinov LLB

Journalist and Editor, Russia

From: Patrick Winfield

Location: New York , USA

Date: 22nd November 2006

I am sorry for the horrible loss of life. I have just begun to learn about this extraordinary women and her work. We need more people like her in this world.

Patrick Winfield (Graphic Designer, 10e20)

From: Heidi Hoogerbeets

Location: New York, USA

Date: 24th November 2006

In New York there will be an event remembering Anna Stepanovna hosted by PEN American Center and the Committee to Protect Journalists. The event is on December 6, 2006, and is from 7:00-8:30 pm, and it is free and open to the public at the CUNY Graduate Center on 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street).

Kind regards,

Heidi Hoogerbeets

From: Wren Leigh

Location: Ontario, Canada

Date: 25th November 2006

I too would like to express my sorrow in hearing of this brave woman's death. I commend her bravery and her morals and her character, her soul. I am saddened that her beauty was stilled by monsters who could not bear hearing her truths.

Of late I find myself wondering where the heroes are, where are the voices of truth and justice? I stopped reading/watching news and media for none of the main-stream venues offer truth, only the propaganda their governments allow them to air/print. When you do find one such as Anna, you are thankful for the time they had to share with us, but oh so angry that she wasn't allowed to be who she wanted to be, to share with us what she needed to share.

How does one stop the madness that is ruling the world today? How does one stop the elitists from controlling how we think, how we act, etc. etc.? Honestly, does ANYONE have an answer? Those, like Anna, who try to get the message out, who try to balance the sickness that has seeped into our society, find themselves killed.

If the small voices who stand up and speak out are forever removed from the picture, how long before no one decides to lend their voice? How long is it before "they" win? The time is near at hand, I am afraid, as people are shying away from getting involved. Our individuality is so important to us these days that we are forgetting how to work as a cohesive unit. We forget that we need each other to survive as a species. We need to work together to heal the earth and to heal ourselves.

To all the "leaders" of today. To all the Putins, the Bushs, the Husseins of the world. Our voices may be small but there will come a day when we will have had enough and our voice will be mighty and we will win and folks like Anna will be at the forefront of our charge and you will have no power over us anymore.

To Anna and everyone who has ever died unjustly for their cause, my heart commends you. One day you shall be heard. To all those who feel they could be like the Anna's of the world, please DO IT and do it now before its too late!

Wren Leigh

Ontario, Canada

From: Carol Dreeszen

Location: Ugashik, Arkansas, USA

Date: 27th November 2006

First of all I would like to send my condolences to the family of Anna Politkovskaya for the loss of a wonderful, smart and dedicated woman for her determination in trying to bring out the freedom of speech in Russia. I am so sorry for your loss ! God Bless you all !!

There is no Country that can claim Democracy where anyone has to be afraid of telling the truth. It is truly a shame to have leaders proclaim to be a free state/country on one hand, and on the other hand try to silence anyone who does in fact say something truthful about what they believe in, because it may shed light on something illegal or inhumane about what higher up people in the Government are doing.

When a person has to live in fear of losing their life over something they say, that is not freedom, nor is it a democracy or freedom of speech !

Why do people try to make a cover-up of the whole situation?? By trying to contain the info and even the events that have happened in my opinion only shows they are guilty. I am not saying that the Press in any country is always 100 % right in the way some stories are told, because each one tells it in their own interpretation. But the key is when they are able to tell the story the way they see it, that is a democracy and freedom of expression and speech which is partly what the free world is about.

If the Media Reporters in Russia are able to say what they see and believe in, and are able to report it as such then that is freedom of speech ! When they are silenced because of it, that is murder !! It really is a shame that leaders have to be shamed or forced into being honest by public criticism or opinions but I guess in today's world it seems to be happening a lot ! When leaders or groups take action into their own hands, and think they can solve every problem by murdering people thinking they can get rid of a problem, the problem only intensifies !!

Carol Dreeszen

Ugashik, Arkansas, USA

From: Jeff Saunders

Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Date: 30th November 2006

Hello

My name is Jeff Saunders from Hamilton,Ontario,Canada. I wish to express my sincere condolences for Anna. I truly wish they find those responsible and that they are brought to Justice. May God Bless her and her desire for truth.

Sincerely,

Jeff Saunders

Hamilton, Ontario,Canada

From: Masood K

Location: (Withheld by consent)

Date: 30th November 2006

Anna was mother of all Chechens and a role model for all women.

Masood

From: Ibrahim Kouadir

Location: Fez, Morocco

Date: 13th December 2006

Heroes are those people who want to be individuals, but are being forced to be cogs again. In a dumb world there are only cogs!.. This is the case of Anna, a normal women, with an ordinary instinct of searching the truth and revealing it.. But her fault, or rather, her misfortune was that she lived in an era when "humans" got rarer. Still, she held the challenge and went on, simply because she's committed herself to live for what she was created for, i.e. truth and justice, ignoring all the wolves around.. wolves who stole her from us once for ever.. You wanted her to keep silence?.. here, she passed away!.. but only physically. Her soul is still there, and always it will be inspiring our consciousness and reassuring us that the world is still OK as it counts amongst its inhabitants many more heroes like Anna Politkovskaya. Rest in peace Anna, we got your message and we'll resume the way.. promise!

Ibrahim Kouadir

From: Jon Ren from the Philippines

Location: The Philippines

Date: 17th December 2006

I didn't recognize her when they showed her picture upon her assassination in October. But now I do. I remember her from her reports and correspondence photos in Chechnya.

She was always amazing, and awe inspiring. When good people die, people should be angry, people should be absolutely raving mad. When good people are murdered, people should find justice.

On behalf of all of us here in the Philippines that value freedom, we extend our condolences tardy as it is. And that we love Anna, we truly love her.

But now that she's gone we can only hope the people she has fought for so long will now, find their love for her too, and fight for what they so long desire, and for people like her who they have lost.

Jon

From: Karolina / Cal Giles

Location: Lancaster, UK

Date: 13th December 2006

I wish to add my name to the many who are appalled at the lack of press freedom in Russia.The murder of Anna Politkovskaya is yet another example of the Putin regime's complete disregard for the truth, be it about Chechnya or matters closer to home.

I despair for Russia.

Karolina

From: Andrei Blinushov

Location: Russia

Date: 8th February 2007

Anna Politkovskaya site in Russian:

http://hro.org/editions/freedom/anna.php

Andrei Blinushov

From: Ulrich Schreiber

Location: Berlin, Germany

Date: 12th March 2007

Notification - March 20, 2007: Worldwide Reading – in memoriam of Anna Politkovskaya

An appeal for a worldwide reading of Anna Politkovskaya's reports on Chechnya. The journalist and critic of Putin was assassinated on October 7, 2006.

For a second time the Peter Weiss Foundation for Art and Politics, based in Berlin, makes an appeal for a worldwide reading on March 20. The aim of these interconnected events is to raise awareness of matters and forms of political communication. Because the lie as instrument of political formations also belongs to the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is imperative that the powers that combat it don't weaken.

In her reportages Anna Politkovskaya described the catastrophe of the Chechen war, which was begun for paltry reasons and has since gone on, conducted far from the public eye. Her texts portray scenes of torture, reconstruct cold blooded murder, condemn the cynicism of bureaucrats, depict the misery and desperation of a civilian population that is being torn between the army and rebels, and offer a nightmarish picture of the climate of state-fueled fear and repression in Russia.

The selection of texts "Machkety: A Concentration Camp with a Commercial Streak" and "Special Operation Zyazikov" (from the book "A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya" by Anna Politkovskaya, translated by Alexander Burry and Tatiana Tulchinsky, © 2003 The University of Chicago) should be used for the one-off reading on March 20, 2007. You can find these texts on www.literaturfestival.com/upload/pdf/Politkovskya_texts_Eng.pdf as a PDF document. For the sole purpose of the worldwide reading, the texts may be used free of charge on March 20, 2007.

We welcome any ideas. Please contact: info@peter-weiss-stiftung.de - Up until now more than 60 institutions from over 10 countries confirmed their participation. We are supported by various international cultural and human rights organisations such as PEN and Reporters Without Borders. For more information on the event along with a list of all participants and supporters please go to our website http://www.peter-weiss.stiftung.de

Best wishes,

Ulrich Schreiber

Director Peter-Weiss-Stiftung für Kunst und Politik e.V.

Linienstraße 156/157

10115 Berlin

* * * * * * * * * * * *

IN MEMORIAM ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA – BACKGROUND

Anna Politkovskaya, the daughter of Soviet UN diplomats, was born in New York in 1958. She studied Journalism at Moscow University and worked for various newspapers such as "Izvestia" and after the fall of Communism for independent papers, among them "Obchtchaya Gazeta". Most recently she was a special correspondent for the small opposition paper "Novaya Gazeta". Politkovskaya had been working for this newspaper since 1999, when Putin became Prime Minister and the so-called second Chechen war began: two closely-tied events which would trigger a disastrous chain of developments, as Politkovskaya demonstrated in her articles and books such as "A Small Corner of Hell" and "Putin's Russia".

The North Caucasus mountain region of Chechnya proclaimed its independence from Russia in 1991, and finally obtained it through the peace treaty set up after the first war (during which the media could still report freely). From the Russian side, the independence of the secessionist Kazakhs was perceived as a defeat, if not as a bitter dishonor. In 1999, when a Chechen commando led by the rivals of the then president Maskhadov fell in Dagestan, in Russian territory, the Russian rule of the North Caucasus seemed imperiled. Shortly afterwards two bloody bomb attacks were carried out in Moscow. The Chechens were immediately accused as the perpetrators – a suspicion which to this day has yet to be confirmed. Putin, then the head of the KGB's succeeding organization the FSB, reacted with an "Anti-Terror Operation": the start of the second Chechen war. As response to Russia's humiliation and with the pledge to bring back former greatness, Putin used the war for his own political advancement. In 2000 he was elected as President of the Russian Federation.

Since then organizations such as Reporters Without Borders have observed a growing dissolution of free and independent media in Russia. Economic networks with ties to the Kremlin exercising tremendous influence, bureaucratic obstructions and a general climate of menace have seen to it that Russia numbers 140 (from 167) on the "RWB ranking list of worldwide positions of freedom of the press". Now as before, no freedom of coverage from Chechnya is possible.

Ever since the attacks on New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 Putin has felt part of an international alliance. He associated himself with Bush's propagandized "War on Terror". That same year the war in Chechnya was declared officially over. "Putin's begun to try to prove on the world stage," claimed Anna Politkovskaya in an interview in The Guardian, "that he's just a part of a fashionable war. And he's been successful. When, after Beslan, he began to state that we were seeing virtually the hand of Bin Laden, it was appalling. What's Bin Laden got to do with it?"

With all her reporting Politkovskaya tried to show how the war was far from over, but rather how acts of violence and human rights violations continued unabated. She focused above all on the civil population which was slowly being torn between the two warring parties, and described self-perpetuating cycles of violence. Her depictions shed light on the perverse mechanisms of war, exposing the terms on which they operate, while condemning the beneficiaries.

She ends her final book with a critique directed towards both deceptive political groups and society: "They always say only 'Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda'. A cursed slogan. It is the easiest thing to say, the answer with which to brush aside every new bloody tragedy. It is also the most primitive, with which one can lull the consciousness of a society, one which dreams of being lulled." (from "Putin's Russia")

Politkovskaya was awarded many foreign prizes for her work. In 2003 she received the first "Lettre Ulysses Award" for best reportage as well as the Hermann Kesten Medal. In 2004 she was given the Olaf Palme Prize, and one year later the Prize for Freedom and Future of the Press. In Russia she was awarded the Prize of the Journalists Union in 2001. In her native country, however, she also faced threats and intimidation. Yet she refused to have a bodyguard in the same way she refused to go into exile. In 2004 she was the victim of a poisoning attempt. On October 7, 2006 she was shot by an unknown gunman in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment block. The documents used for her last article have gone missing. Anna Politkovskaya left behind two children.

---------------------------------

Peter-Weiss-Stiftung für Kunst und Politik e.V.

Linienstr. 156/157

10115 Berlin

T: ++49 (0)30 27 87 86 45 F: ++49 (0)30 27 87 86 85

www.peter-weiss-stiftung.de

From: Genevieve Tuffnell

Location: USA

Date: 16th April 2007

Anna was one of the bravest people who fought hard for what she believed in. Let us not leave her as a memory, but work hard together to continue the fight. What can we do to stop the cold-blooded and power-hungry?

Genevieve

From: Nichole Scott

Location: Canada

Date: 17th April 2007

Anna was a person who was willing to stand up for what she believed in. As a result of her being outspoken she was murdered. To some people life goes on, but to her family and friends their life stopped (God give them the strength to accept the things they cannot change). But to me she will always be remembered. I will never forget her. May her spirit live on forever because sometimes greatness is unseen. But not this time...

Nichole

From: Rebecca Wood

Location: New South Wales, Australia

Date: 30th May 2007

'Anna the Courageous'

The life and work of Anna Politkovskaya has awakened in me a great desire to once again join the human rights movement and become active again.

Her book “A Russian Diary” has kept me spell bound, horrified, awe struck and incredibly saddened. She is in my dreams and daily thoughts. I have a deep respect for her intelligence, commitment, compassion, courage and literary genius. She was and still is a Russian treasure. History will record her as a great heroine.

I heard of her death when it happened and recently read her latest book, It’s changed my life!

The Putin regime must be removed and Russia given the chance to become a true democracy. The Russian people have a right to be heard, they have the right to be free from the threat of violence and the right to economic prosperity.

My profound if belated sympathy to her family.

Rebecca Wood

From: Melanie Etherton

Location: England

Date: 19th September 2007

My friend and I are doing a project on Anna's life. She is inspirational and unique.

Thanks.

Mel

From: Jonathan Gregor

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Date: 7th October 2007

'The Murder of Anna Politkovskaya'

After having read "A Russian Diary", I wish to pay my respects to a brave, intelligent and dignified person doing what she believed was in her country's long-term interests. It seems that the coterie of security service apparatchiks will ultimately hasten their own fall from power by making conditions for ordinary Russians so unbearable that some sort of revolt will occur - it is the pattern of history. The world needs more people like Anna to shine a spotlight onto the murky behaviour of murderous criminal elements who believe that they can operate with impunity. She set an example to us all.

Remembering Anna