Lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were killed a year ago in Moscow. They were killed in broad daylight, in the center of Moscow, thus defiance was bid to the society and, in a sense, to the Russian authorities. The Kremlin officials disliked Stanislav Markelov, but they do not like disorders and scandals even more. So, this time, the authorities tried to solve the crime. Two suspects have been arrested. The court will adjudge if they are involved in the murder. But, at least, we have every reason to believe that those people participated in the terrorist activities of fascist organizations.

The murder of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova is only one of many fascist terrorist acts in the modern Russia. The attacks on foreign workers, murders of foreign students and beating of the people, whose appearances are not consistent with “right” racial characteristics, became a part of Russia’s reality long ago. And many racist and nationalistic publications do not count as their authors kill nobody directly. Those authors just explain the murderers whom they should kill and for what reason, and help them to feel their rightness.

The nationalistic literature includes all sorts of editions ranging from the historical studies, which “objectively describe” the activities, symbolism and aesthetics of Adolf Hitler’s regime, to the philosophic works covering the Jewish conspiracy; from the books calling for reviewing the Soviet history in a nationalistic way to the nostalgic works about the fighters of the Vermaht’s Russian subunits who struggled against the Soviet rule.

The problem is the attitude to the publications rather than the publications themselves. The Moscow reputable bookshops are full of the editions that would be sold by no respectable trade network, in any Western country. The newsstands without ceremony sell the editions, which advocate different forms of Nazism, fortunately all those theorists and ideologists have not come to terms yet.

Against a background of such tolerance towards Nazism, the regime’s aversion to any forms of the leftist ideology is getting more noticeable. All the left-wing and anti-fascist organizations are regarded as extremist ones, though they always observe laws. The authorities of the Russian city of Tver accused of extremism their local organization of the Automakers trade union for spreading the leaflet calling on the workers to resist the salary decrease and the unlawful dismissals. In other words, extremists in Russia are those demanding to observe laws rather than those breaking them.

At present the mass media write about neonazis more than before, at least because it is impossible to ignore the problem any longer. Their acts of violence take place so regularly that only the most notorious ones hit the news, especially if the Russians, for example, Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, become their victims. True, there occur more and more such cases – the fascists’ activity has provoked the anti-fascist youth mobilization. The young left-wingers and neonazis fight with each other more and more often. The fascists, who now suffer defeats in the streets, attack the people underhandedly and hunt for the leaders and the most famous activists of anti-fascist groups.

Stanislav Markelov was killed because he, as a lawyer, was in charge of the anti-fascists cases. Anastasia Baburova was killed only because she was near the place Stanislav Markelov had been killed. The press wrote about that case very much, though keeping silent about the political views and ideological positions of the murdered people. The journalists did not say that Stanislav Markelov was not only a human rights advocate and a lawyer, but also one of the leaders of a left-wing movement in Russia and a participant in social forums and Marxist discussions. They did not say that Anastasia Baburova took part in an anarchist movement either.

In November 2009 Ivan Khutorskiy, one of the activists and leaders of the Moscow antifascists was killed. The journalists wrote that Ivan Khutorskiy went in for sport and that he studied law. But they did not write about his political views, for example, that Ivan was one of the organizers of the “Anticapitalism-2008” festival.

For neofascist groups the terror is not only an effort to intimidate their opponents or to express their own hatred practically, but also a way to attract the people’s attention and, in a sense, a form of propaganda. But this propaganda is effective just because the groups’ crimes are not criticized by respectable nationalists while they carry out the ideological work in the newspapers, magazines and books. And the respectable press plays this game, though it is partially forced to do that. This makes the mass media the objective accomplices of the ultra right-wingers.

As regards the left-wingers, they are left to their own resources and hold actions, which are not very noticeable and effective. They organize rallies trying to draw the attention of the Russian people, some of whom do not know that the left-wingers exist. The leftists often prefer to hold theoretical discussions among themselves rather than to make efforts to speak with ordinary people and to address the issues that are important not only in terms of lofty philosophy. In this respect Stanislav Markelov strongly differed from his comrades, he conducted ideological arguments as well as tried to influence the situation. That’s why he might be killed.

The murders of people cannot be forgotten and forgiven. On January 19, 2010 one year will pass since Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova were killed. The rallies and marches will take place in different Russian cities. This is the day of antifascist mobilization that will be observed every year.

It is important that we speak at that day not only how tragically the two young people perished, but also what they struggled for. The racial hatred can be won only through the social fairness, any other way would come to nothing.

Boris Kagarlitsky is a Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements

January 14, 2010 

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