Today Sean’s Russia Blog has an article on the murder of a United Russia deputy named Grigory Nosikov, commenting that the Western media has repeatedly ignored and/or downplayed violent deaths of members of government.  Were Nosikov a journalist, opposition activist, or human rights activist, Sean quips, “you would probably know his name and his life by heart by now.“

I’m not sure what to make of this comment.  On the one hand, it’s intentionally provocative (because that’s what good blogging is all about) because it suggests that the sometimes inappropriate and clumsy wielding of names like Politkovskaya is on the same level as the murder and impunity itself.  The timing of this comment, coinciding with the murder of Marksharip Aushev (who was running Ingushetia.org after his predecessor was also killed – you can read an article about him by Stanislav Markelov written for this blog, before he too was killed), I think is sure to raise some eyebrows.

Secondly, Sean makes it clear that it was Nosikov’s business dealings, not his politics, which allegedly prompted the violence.  That strikes me as an important detail.