The campaign for a better Chechnya

The liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza discusses the political goals of the activist Natalya Estemirova in Chechnya: "On the one hand it is good that there are people like Natalya Estemirova all over Russia. On the other hand, it is tragic that they are always in the firing line. And it doesn't look as if that will change in the near future. ... Estemirova was not an advocate of Chechen independence - nor was [Anna] Politkovskaya, incidentally. She was against the fanatics who ruled Chechnya in the 1990s when there was no leadership and who tried to introduce the Sharia [Islamic law]. In fact they were only interested in money and in having sole power. ... Estemirova campaigned for Chechnya to have real autonomy within Russia. And she strove above all to stop Chechnya becoming a place of violence and lawlessness - irrespective of who ruled the republic."

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