PACE President welcomes arrests on murder of Anna Politkovskaya

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The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), René van der Linden, warmly welcomed the efforts by the Russian authorities which have led to the arrest of a group of people allegedly involved in the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. He made the statement today, reports PACE press office.

“Journalists are indispensable advocates of the freedom of expression and thus an important pillar of democracy. The assassination of one of the most courageous journalists in Russia, who did outstanding work in exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya, was a direct attack on democracy,” van der Linden said.

“I am confident that a thorough investigation in the framework of the forthcoming court proceedings will shed full light on this murder. I would like to thank the Russian authorities for the work that has been done so far, and encourage them to spare no effort to reveal the truth,” he added.

Anna Politkovskaya was killed on October 7, 2006, in apartment blocks where she rented a flat. The investigation of her assassination was taken under control by Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika.