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Putin laments journo's murder
10/10/2006 21:57 - (SA)
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| Women are reflected in a portrait of Anna Politkovskaya as they pay tribute to the murdered journalist in St Petersburg, Russia. (Dmitry Lovetsky, AP) |
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Dresden - President Vladimir
Putin on Tuesday denounced the murder of Russian journalist Anna
Politkovskaya and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Questions about the contract-style killing, which has drawn
condemnation from round the world, dominated a joint news
conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that also
touched on business and energy issues.
"We must be clear that it was a dreadful and unacceptable
crime which cannot be allowed to go unpunished," Putin said
through an interpreter.
In his first public comments on the killing of
Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the president and Russia's war
in Chechnya, Putin said: "She had minimal influence on political
life in Russia.
"This murder does much more harm to Russia and Chechnya than
any of her publications."
Russian prosecutors have linked Politkovskaya's murder to
her work. HeckledShe won prominence for her defence of human rights and
criticism of government policies - particularly the Kremlin's
conduct of the war against separatists in Chechnya.
Putin was heckled by a man in the crowd over the murder as
he got out of his limousine in the eastern city of Dresden,
where he served as a KGB agent in the 1980s.
Waving a banner with "Murderer" on it, the man shouted:
"You're a murderer, you're not welcome here."
Politkovskaya, 48, was gunned down in her apartment block on
Saturday. Thousands of mourners - including Western ambassadors -
attended her funeral in Moscow in Tuesday.
Merkel told reporters Putin had assured her everything would
be done to clear up the murder.
- Reuters
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