Russia mourns slain journalist
Tuesday, 10 Oct 2006 19:44
Police have admitted Ms Politkovskaya's professional activities were probably behind her death
The funeral of murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been held in Moscow, three days after the outspoken critic of the Russian government was found dead at her apartment block.
Hundreds of mourners, including friends, relatives, western diplomats and ambassadors, attended the funeral, before the 48-year-old's body was laid to rest in a suburban cemetery.
The mother of two was found lying dead with a pistol and four bullets next to her in a Moscow apartment block at 17:15 local time (14:15 BST) on Saturday.
Police said she was shot three times in the body and once in the head, while CCTV footage released to the public shows a man in a baseball cap following the reporter into the complex.
Ms Politkovskaya was a major critic of president Vladimir Putin's government, notably his policy towards the disputed region of Chechnya.
She frequently wrote about alleged abuse of human rights such as torture in Chechnya for her own newspaper, the Novaya Gazeta.
Speaking at today's funeral, Vitaly Yarashevsky, deputy editor of the newspaper, paid tribute to his unique colleague.
"There are almost no more journalists like her left today," he said according to the BBC.
"Anna was a fearless person, not reckless, but courageous. She's the third one to have died from our paper. This is a blow to freedom of the press in Russia."
Mr Putin, meanwhile, who today met with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Frankfurt, said that the "horribly cruel crime" would not go unpunished.
Recognising her role as a "severe critic" of his regime, the president added that despite her fame as a human rights journalist in the west, her influence upon Russia itself had been "minimal".