The Litvinenko Inquiry

The Litvinenko Inquiry
Chapter 6: The murder of Anna Politkovskaya
5.67 Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist on the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
She was a critic of President Putin – Professor Service described her as, “a regular
harrier of both Putin and Chechnya’s brutal ruler Ramzan Kadyrov”. 60 I have already
mentioned her on several occasions, for example in the reference to her investigations
into the Moscow theatre siege (paragraph 4.38 above) and to her work on the War
Crimes Commission established by Mr Zakayev (paragraph 4.56 above).
5.68 On the evidence that I have heard, Anna Politkovskaya and Mr Litvinenko were both
campaigners who shared a cause and were also close friends.
5.69 It appears that Mr Litvinenko and Ms Politkovskaya first met in 2003 at court hearings
in London relating to Mr Zakayev’s extradition. 61 Marina Litvinenko said that the two
became friends, and that Ms Politkovskaya subsequently visited them “once or twice”
in London. 62 Mr Goldfarb, who was himself a friend of Ms Politkovskaya, thought that
the two had been “very close”; he said that they had “a natural kinship as converts”,
Mr Litvinenko having been a KGB officer and Ms Politkovskaya’s father having been
a senior Russian diplomat. 63
5.70 I should add in this connection that I am aware of suggestions that have been made
that Ms Politkovskaya did not trust Mr Litvinenko because of his FSB past (see Putin’s
Labyrinth by Steve Levine, page 125). None of the witnesses who gave evidence
before me mentioned this, but that does not of course mean that it is not true.
5.71 The relationship between the two was not purely social. I heard that they collaborated
on investigative work, one example being their work together with regard to possible
FSB involvement in the Moscow theatre siege. 64
5.72 I also heard that Mr Litvinenko became very concerned for Ms Politkovskaya’s safety.
Marina Litvinenko told me that Mr Litvinenko had urged Ms Politkovskaya to take
advantage of her American citizenship and to “go and write [her] articles in America”;
but she had refused. Mr Litvinenko had also given her personal security advice, “how
to feel safe if you went to your apartment, how to check if nobody is staying in a
corner”. In the end, Marina Litvinenko reflected, this advice had been insufficient,
“unfortunately, he couldn’t save her”. 65
5.73 Anna Politkovskaya was murdered by gunmen outside her Moscow apartment on
7 October 2006.
5.74 All of those who gave evidence to me on this subject were agreed that Mr Litvinenko
was deeply affected by Ms Politkovskaya’s death. Marina Litvinenko recalled giving
him the news, and said that, “he was just broken down because for him it was
absolutely devastating news”. 66 Mr Quirke said that Mr Litvinenko had mentioned
Ms Politkovskaya’s death to him, and that he had been upset about it, as well as
60
INQ019146 (page 23 paragraph 73)
61
Marina Litvinenko 3/145; Goldfarb 27/112
62
Marina Litvinenko 3/145
63
Goldfarb 5/127; 27/112
64
Goldfarb 5/128
65
Marina Litvinenko 3/146
66
Marina Litvinenko 4/33
104