Picket against anti-Georgian campaign and to mourn Anna Poitkovskaya held in Moscow (Photo report)

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A picket has been held today in central Moscow to commemorate reporter, Novaya Gazeta columnist Anna Politkovskaya killed at the entrance of the apartment blocks where she lived in Moscow on October 7.Besides, participants of the picket, at which several hundreds people gathered, protested against increasing tensions in Russia-Georgia relations and against increasing ethnic extremism. The picket was held under slogans “Stop campaign against Georgia,” “Ethnic cleansing is the way for Russia’s collapse,” “Murder of Politkovskaya and pursuit of ethnic minorities is Fascism” and so on.

“Now only several journalists remain in Russia, who have enough courage to write about how people in Chechnya are oppressed and killed, about Kondopoga and Beslan, corruption in high ranks. A war is going on in the country and we suffer losses. We, Russia’s citizens, who were protected by Anna Politkovskaya’s creative feat, are mourning this awful loss,” Member of Russia’s State Duma Vladimir Ryzhkov said.

As Member of Moscow City Duma Sergey Mitrokhin (Yabloko party) said, commenting on the situation in Georgia, “national inferiority is being exacerbated today by everyone, starting from the president and finishing with minor officials. All state-run TV-channels are penetrated with the inferiority complex. Today, people came here who have no such complex. We believe that the Russian people are great people and they are humiliated by such attitudes to other nations, such getting even with other nations in such mean way like it is done by the Russian authorities. We are against it and have come here to say about it.”