Category Archives: Estemirova

A quick rundown of Western media responses to Natalia Estemirova’s murder from Newsy.com.

My translation of Novaya gazeta calling Putin out.

Ramzan Kadyrov and the unnamed “officials of Chechnya”? They are all one in the same. We remember the names of those who questioned. It’s unknown whether “Kadyrov’s list” was written on down. About which are many rumors. But it has been obvious for a while that there are a number in Moscow, other exotic international capitals, and with a furious speed – in the Caucasus. Last entry on it – was reserved for Natasha.

And nevertheless – someone must answer. Still before killers will stand like Raduev at the prison doors. Some suggest that we don’t have a state.  But we do have a state, and there are even people who know about these high-profile political murders in Russia (everyone) more that others. This person gave the “all clear” for tying Russia to Chechnya.  He thought up a new type of power in the ..read more

The world is reacting to the murder of Memorial activist Natalia Estemirova.  Already a universal consensus has formed as to who is responsible: Ramzan Kadyrov.  Everyone seems to be taking their cue from Oleg Orlov, the chairman of Memorial.  “I know, I am sure of it, who is guilty for the murder of Natalia. His name is Ramzan Kadyrov,” Orlov said in a statement on Memorial’s site.  Orlov accusation stems from a personal confrontation Estemirova had with Kadyrov when he fired her as head of Grozny’s Public Council.  “Yes, I am up to my elbows in blood,” Kadyrov allegedly told Estemirova. “And I am not ashamed of it. I have killed and will kill bad people. We are fighting against the republic’s enemies.”  Orlov claims that “these words, and further relations with her, were made with offensive language that I am not prepared to repeat, were threats.  Therefore, I have ..read more

The Nation‘s Katriana Vanden Heuvel (and wife of Russia scholar Stephen Cohen) has addressed the murder of Natalya Estermirova. According to preliminary reports, Estermirova was abducted and stuffed in a van.  Her corpse was later found murdered near a woodland area near Nazran in Ingushetia.  Estermirova had a direct connection to the Nation. She wrote a chronicle of Anna Politkovskaya’s work in Chechnya for the magazine in 2007.  About Politkovskaya, Estermirova wrote:

“There are those with a vested interest in keeping the Russian Abu Ghraib forgotten–so that they can once again kidnap and torture. Our task, however, is to uncover their deeds and to fight them. Anna was at the forefront of this work for many years.”

The final line of that article reads: “She is no more. Now it is up to us to continue her work.”  Well, Estermirova did, and like Politkovskaya, paid the ultimate price, most likely at the ..read more