Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya to Help in Hostage Negotiations in Moscow
Los Angeles, California, October 24, 2002 — Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist with the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta who was scheduled to receive a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation during ceremonies in Los Angeles tonight, has flown home to help in negotiations with Chechen rebels who are holding up to 700 people hostage in a Moscow theater.
Politkovskaya received word late on October 23 that the rebels had asked her to participate in negotiations. She left Los Angeles on the early morning of October 24. The following message was read by John Puerner, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, during the awards ceremonies.
Message from Anna Politkovskaya, IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards, Los Angeles, California, October 24, 2002:
October 24, 2002; Los Angeles, 4:10 a.m
“Dear friends! I want to thank you once again. It is a great honor for me to receive the Courage in Journalism Award.
However – and I think you will agree with me – it is an even greater honor for me to respond when Destiny offers the opportunity to help people when a crisis strikes.
There’s a big tragedy unfolding in Russia today, and those circumstances require that it is today, and not a day later, that I need to prove that I indeed have courage.
I have always believed that Russian journalism, first and foremost, is the journalism of action. The journalism of taking the step that you simply must take.
Please pray for us, those who are directly affected by this crisis. And of course, say a prayer for me.
I am ever more convinced that the war in Chechnya must be brought to an end. And today, the time has come for me to appeal to President Bush and plead with him to use his influence on President Putin to stop the bloodshed in Chechnya, and to prevent it in Moscow.”
