K. Anthony Appiah of Princeton University and PEN American has an op/ed on the Politkovskaya anniversary published in the Washington Post today:

Russia no longer needs gulags to silence the opposition. The punishment for drawing attention to the sins of the mighty used to be a show trial and exile, possibly to a labor camp. Now journalists receive an anonymous but credible threat of violence to themselves or their families, a beating on their doorstep or, in some cases, execution in broad daylight.