I have no idea what to say. I’ve received so many useful comments regarding my last week’s post that it will take me a while to process all that information–I have only a certain amount of time, two eyes, and one merely one ganglion. Meanwhile here’s the fresh news from the North.

And interesting it is. Now, there probably isn’t a non-ignorant soul in the Western world that wouldn’t have already heard about the brutal murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but for all those who have not yet, it’s about time you read about it.

Any kind of murder is brutal and shouldn’t be allowed to take place, but I guess the case of Politkovskaya echoes with incredible stamina because she was a strong opponent of president Putin’s administration and his war in Chechenya. Her murder is more than just the act of killing of a person, it is the act of silencing and oppressing.

What made a very strong impact on me was how the Finnish society reacted to Politkovskaya’s assassination. First of all, since Saturday, October 7th, when she was murdered, Finnish newspapers have been full of articles on the topic and writing in practically all sections from commentary articles from the editors, to the letters to the editor (except maybe sports and economy sections haven’t touched on the subject).

Then there was the silent, candle protest in front of the Russian embassy in Helsinki where people have gathered semi-spontaneously the very next day, Sunday. More than 2.000 people gathered to mourn and protest against the oppression and in support of freedom of speech and press in Russia. It was the largest such event in the world, even larger than the one in Moscow.

It is not so much the full-page support for freedom of the press campaigns in many daily Finnish newspapers, which were published within the last few days that have impressed me so much. What made a strong impact on me is that people came out of their warm and comfortable homes to express their exasperations on the streets of Helsinki. They spontaneously understood what the brutal act means and that it is practically only the tip of the iceberg of many alarming human rights issues in Russia.

One of the public figures in Finland that also strongly condemned the violent act was also Finnish writer, producer and director Aki Kaurismäki. Aki harshly criticized the oppression of the press in Russia in an interview he gave to Novaya Gazeta in which he has also said that Novaya Gazeta is “the last free newspaper [in Russia].”

Kaurimäki has already on several occasions expressed his opposition to the Russia’s military actions in Chechenya, but even more so in this interview where he has also said that “Russia should immediately pull out of Chechenhya and give the country its independence” and that “only then could KGB man prove that he is also a human being. Otherwise I cannot respect him.”

The Novaya Gazeta journalist then asked him if he knows where Chechenya is. To which Kaurismäki straightforwardly replied: “Between Dagestan and Ingushetia, in the Northern Causasus.” Journalist openly responded that he does not know that much about Finnish geography. To which Kaurismäki replied only: “Russia used to belong to Finland.”

Emotionally laden memories from the past spring forth.

Mladen

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Culture, Finland, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.