Not even three months have passed since the assassination of one of Russia’s greatest human rights lawyers, Stanislav Markelov, that once again we have blood on the Moscow snow.  Once again, the victim is another illustrious human rights leader, once again we can expect the state to say (and do) nothing, and once again, the international community will likely be timid if not silent.  No one will even pretend as though an investigation will be conducted.

The selection of such a target at such a time is significant.  I would describe Lev Ponomarev as more than a friend and respected colleague, but rather as one of the true fighters for human rights in Russia – a man of influence and tireless passion.  We have published significant amounts of his research on this blog, he supplied us with the covertly recorded video of torture and prison abuse (which has been viewed by hundreds of thousands on YouTube), and his ongoing criticism of the human rights abuses occurring in the persecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky caused great irritation in the Kremlin.

Unfortunately, there are several reasons to believe that his advocacy activities related to this case, as much as the other work of his NGO, may have prompted this attack.