Human rights activist’s murderers will be found – Medvedev
Published: 16 July, 2009, 21:27
Edited: 26 February, 2010, 14:31
Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, July 16, 2009 (AFP Photo DDP / Joerg Koch / Germany Out)
(12.8Mb) embed videoTAGS: Manufacturing, Medvedev, Russia, Merkel, Europe, Big deal, Economy, Gas
The murder of Russian human rights activist, Natalya Estemirova, cast a shadow over the Russian-German talks. However, President Dmitry Medvedev said he is sure the murderers will be found.
The body of Estemirova, who was kidnapped on Wednesday in Chechnya, was found in Ingushetia, Russia’s northern Caucasian republic.
“Such a crime must not remain unpunished, it will be investigated in a most thorough way,” President Medvedev said.
He also said Estemirova’s murder was linked to her professional activities.
“Human rights activists are necessary for every normal state,” Medvedev stated.
“She was saying the truth openly, sometimes harshly judging the authorities. But that’s what the value of the human rights activists is,” he said.
The president also said “those who committed this crime were expecting the primitive versions of it to be voiced immediately”.
“Such crimes are, in fact, timed to coincide with concrete events, this is a provocation,” he stressed.
Natalya Estemirova was found dead just one day before Medvedev’s talks with Germany’s leader.
Economy matters
Still, economic issues have taken center stage during the meeting. The Russian president and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have re-iterated their support for the Magna-Sberbank bid for carmaker Opel at talks in Munich.
In May, Berlin agreed to back the bid by the Canadian auto parts maker Magna and Russia’s Sberbank to buy Opel, which is being shed by US giant General Motors after its disastrous difficulties in the economic crisis.
During a news conference in Munich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal will be finalized in the near future.
“The concept of Magna offers very attractive points in order to open up the Opel plants once again,” she said.
“And we also hope that Russia will play an important role within this project, and I think that the investors of Magna in Russia will also contribute to this development,” the chancellor added.
The leaders also endorsed the joint gas pipeline project Nord Stream. The multi-billion dollar pipeline will run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, bypassing transit countries including Ukraine.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev says Nord Stream is set to provide energy security for the whole of Europe.
“Nord Stream has a strategic meaning, not only for Germany, for the whole of Europe. It will help to make Europe energy-secure,” he noted.
“Where is Nabucco going to get gas?” – Medvedev
The Russian leader answered that question regarding the Nabucco pipeline project during a press conference.
“We are not in any way jealous of Nabucco – let it develop. But no one has ever explained to me where it is going to get gas,” Medvedev said.
“If gas arrives there, then it’s meant for someone. If it is considered useful for Europe, it means it is good. After all, we are also Europeans,” he concluded.
The Nabucco pipeline is billed as being built specifically to bypass Russian territory. It is supposed to deliver gas from the Caspian Sea across Turkey to Austria – at a cost of 8 billion euro and a capacity of 31 billion cubic meters.
Last week, Turkey's Energy Minister said Russia could be asked to supply gas to Nabucco. But that’s not something analysts think is likely, as Gazprom has its own projects – namely, the South Stream pipeline.
Read also: Germany becomes Russia’s closest partner in Europe and whole world
16.07.2009, 20:45
“Nord Stream not a rival to Nabucco pipeline”Russia’s Nord Stream is a done deal and not a rival to the EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline. But the South Stream has to hurry up to ensure support from investors and suppliers, says Mikhail Troitsky, a political analyst. |
16.07.2009, 22:29
18 comments
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Most solutions to crimes concentrate on the motive. So what could be the motive behind this poor ladies death. Are we to believe that her death, at this time was in some way beneficial to the Chechen leader, the guy who sits in relative splendour; are we to be believe that all of a sudden he suddenly needed this lady dead, that she suddenly posed such a threat that she needed to be eliminated. When in fact she had been saying the same things for quite some time. For me, unless she was on the verge of some great revelation, this seems to be a farcical explanation. Some could argue that this was exactly why it was done, because it seems illogical. But even this argument would need some solid analysis to describe, why the timing was as it is. So what are the alternatives to the obvious, who stood to gain form her death, other than the 'obvious' suspect. Well we could start to look at the results, because actors tend to calculate the results of their actions, indeed the thought of the result, usually drives the action. Well the result is clear, Russia again cast in a negative light, a focal point created around human rights, a focal point created against Russia in Chechnya. So who gains from these results, the Chechen leader, the Russian government, Medvedev,Putin.... I think not. So the result is not something the Chechen leader or Russia would want. The killing of a woman, without some impending revelation, is hardly something that would be necessary for any of these players. So who logically would gain, a Chechen based group would, as all of the above results would be beneficial to their cause, it would drum up support and help in destabilization. An outside hostile force could also benefit, like hawks in the US, unsettled east Europeans or the UK. These would have a powerful geopolitical motive to generate the results above. Especially to derail US Russian and German Russian relations. So the investigations and outcome may not be as simple as it first seems.