11-9-2010
In Moscow, recently attacked journalist Oleg Kashin remains in grave condition. Today in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city, a group of students was attacked on their way to a film screening hosted by the Novosibirsk State University about the life and death of another prominent correspondent.
According to the event’s organizers, twenty to thirty individuals approached fifteen students, including three foreigners, who gathered to watch a documentary about Anastasia Baburova, the slain Novaya Gazeta journalist who was murdered in Moscow last year alongside lawyer Stanislav Markelov in broad daylight.
Today, one of the attackers drew a pneumatic pistol and fired six shots, injuring a bystander. The crowd then dispersed, without anyone being apprehended or detained by the police.
The film–”Love Me, Please“–was released earlier this year and is devoted to Anastasia. The documentary focuses on the journalist’s friends, colleagues, and parents. The film also incorporates footage of Russian neo-Nazi activists that the producers had found online. Baburova was a court reporter for Novaya Gazeta, attending numerous trials of neo-Nazi individuals responsible for violent murders and attacks motivated by virulent racism and xenophobia.
The documentary’s title comes from a letter Anastasia had written to her parents. Larisa and Eduard Baburov spoke on the first anniversary of their daughter’s death with RFE/RL Russian Service, paying tribute to Anastasia’s “tireless fight against nationalist extremism and fascism in Russia.” It’s still unclear who killed both Baburova and Markelov, who was also a prominent figure in Russia’s antifascist circles. Two affiliates of ultranationalist groups are remaining in pre-trial detention at the moment.
Watch more: Human Rights First contributes to Al Jazeera’s Inside Story on hate crime in Russia.
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