Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist, author and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and Russian President Putin.

Quotes

 * [It] is we who are responsible for Putin's policies ... [s]ociety has shown limitless apathy ... [a]s the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle. The KGB respects only the strong. The weak it devours. We of all people ought to know that.
 * Putin's Russia


 * We are hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance. All we have left is the internet, where information is still freely available. For the rest, if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial - whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit.
 * As quoted in "Poisoned by Putin: The horror of Beslan was made still worse by the intimidation of Russia's servile media" (9 September 2004), The Guardian, United Kingdom: Guardian News and Media Limited


 * My heroes are those people who want to be individuals but are being forced to be cogs again. In an Empire there are only cogs.
 * As quoted in Anna Politkovskaya: Putin, poison and my struggle for freedom (15 October 2004), The Independent.