Markelov & Baburova next journalist victims

(As seen in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the biggest German daily, end of January 2009)

The astonishing thing actually was the age. Almost 35 years old only and 26. And already on the hit list of Russian political assassinations. And again the same pattern as always - general attorneys who have no sense of injustice and whose pressure to find out about the facts of the murderers remembers one of gas pipelines deep down in Ukraine, a very mild public awareness and low attendance at the funeral (probably due to the fact, that the ordinary Russian hardly did get news about this), and most familiar a public outroar over the killings so loud you can actually hear a needle fall in the Kremlin.

And the most stunning fact of all is, as often said, that Russian officials and the government do not regard voices like Markelov and Baburova as the biggest assets this country has but still as a threat or a cough you have to get rid of. When will this synapse finally connect?