In her posthumously published book of journals, Anna Politkovskaya wrote of several encounters with Beslan victims’ rights group, including the following:

“We, the mothers of Beslan,” Marina Park says, “are guilty of having given life to children doomed to live in a country that decided it did not need them. We are guilty of having voted for a president who decided children are expendable. We are guilty of having kept silent for ten years about the war being waged in Chechnya, which has brought forth rebels like Kulaev.” Ella Kesaeva, another bereaved mother, breaks in: “The main culprit is Putin. He hides behind his presidency. He has chosen not to meet us and apologize. It is a tragedy that we live under such a president, who refuses to take responsibility for anything.”

Very soon Ella Kesaeva could find herself charged with a crime for making these controversial statements. One would think that putting the victims’ families of one of the most odious and deadly terrorist attacks since September 11th on trial for extremism would be an extremely bad PR move by the Russian government, especially right before a presidential election. Apparently not.