Killing of Journalist Sukhomlin Is Very Strange

PRAVDA.Ru already reported about an outrageous killing of a talented Internet journalist, Vladimir Sukhomlin, 23, in the town of Solntsevo of the Moscow region on January 4. The journalist was among the pioneers of developing resources and technologies for information operations’ support; he also known as developer of the websites Chechnya.Ru and Serbia.Ru. 

As it became known yesterday, the indictment against Vladimir’s murders was quite unexpectedly commuted from “murder” to “causing deliberate damage to health.” Originally, criminal proceedings were instituted in accordance with the clause 105 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (murder) at the Nikulinsky Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow. However, further the materials of the case were handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office of the town of Solntsevo where the crime had been committed. At that, the clause 105 was substituted with the clause 111, part 4 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (causing deliberate damage to health). According to the information reported by the Russian website Utro.Ru, the murders from the Ministry of Internal Affairs whose actions “carelessly entailed death of the victim” may be sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment at the maximum. The reason of the sudden change of the indictment is not clear yet.

Father of the killed journalist Vladimir Alexandrovich says: “I am ready for a long investigation. If necessary, I will appeal to the President. Putin must be awaken. Terrible things are going on: even policemen themselves call the Code of Criminal Procedure “the cover of criminal procedure.”

At the same time, in accordance with the information we obtained, the death of journalist Vladimir Sukhomlin obviously goes together with the tragic events that are going on in Russia. This is perfectly clear from his work in the information sphere: the website Chechnya.Ru is done in a clearly pronounced patriotic manner, unlike those websites that allow Chechen terrorists to tell about the war in the light they wish themselves. It is strange that nobody ranked the death of the journalist with such tragic events as the Nord Ost hostage crisis in October 2002, or the recent explosion in the building of the Chechen Government in Grozny.

The manner in which the murder was committed is rather strange. Every assassin, especially that one who served in the army or in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, knows perfectly well that it is safe enough to shoot a victim with any weapon, a submachine-gun or a sniper rifle right into the head. When it is done this way, the victim cannot be identified as his head bursts. Shooting with explosive bullets or with decentered tracer bullets may split a human head into two parts. The murder of the journalist was committed in a very strange manner, in such that is traditionally employed by people with perverted psyche or sadists, who are often people supporting the radical Islamist views. The manner of the murder can be also treated as a warning to those who is still investigating the problem of the Chechen war and the problem of assassinations. Especially that elections to the State Duma are coming soon, and presidential elections will follow then; deaths of journalists, including Vladimir Sukhomlin, may become a nice trump card in someone’s pre-election campaign.

Pyotr Bely
PRAVDA.Ru