Natalia Estemirova was leaving for work when four men grabbed her and the fighter for human rights into their car as she shouted, “I am being kidnapped.” A few hours later the body of one of Russia’s most prominent defenders of human rights was found by the roadside with bullets in her head and chest. Russian human rights activists once again expressed their outrage at the death of someone who fights to uncover human rights violations in a nation that is still governed by Putin’s ideas concerning justice– whatever the government does is correct and it is only justice for all to do as they are told. Ironically, the murder of this wonderful woman came a week after President Obama visited Russia and discussed with President Medvedev the importance of human rights.
Estimirova was a close friend and colleague of Anna Politkovskaya who was murdered outside of her apartment in 2006. As of this date, there is no evidence anyone who kills human rights defenders will ever be convicted, let alone see the inside of a prison. In Putin, Russia, it is not the rule of law that dominates, but the rule of the gun. The trial of those accused of killing Politkovskaya was a farce and if Putin gets around to having another trial, we can guarantee it will be an even greater farce.