On the 20th anniversary of the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, representatives of 32 countries called on the Russian authorities to identify everyone involved in the crime and end pressure on independent media.

The statement was issued by the Media Freedom Coalition. It was signed by representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Ukraine, Australia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Chile, Japan, Spain and other countries.

“Impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers is unacceptable,” the statement says. The signatories also called on Moscow to release media workers who have been unjustly detained or convicted, ensure safe working conditions for them and end transnational repression.

The authors of the statement said that over the past two decades, the Russian authorities had systematically narrowed the space for independent journalism. Pressure intensified after the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, with the authorities using criminal cases, detentions, threats, trials in absentia, lengthy prison sentences, as well as the designations of “foreign agent” and “undesirable organisation”.

“We express our solidarity with journalists and media workers who, despite censorship, persecution, restrictive legislation, forced exile and transnational forms of pressure, continue to report on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as investigate corruption, repression and human rights violations,” the statement says.

Politkovskaya was also commemorated by representatives of European institutions and international organisations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that the journalist was killed for “telling the truth to those in power in Putin’s Russia”. She said it was important today to remember those who continue Politkovskaya’s work.

The EU Delegation to Russia described her death as “a tragic loss for Russian journalism” and stressed the importance of freedom of expression amid the ongoing war.

The European External Action Service recalled that Russian courts had convicted six people of involvement in the crime, but that the person who ordered the murder has still not been identified. The EU again called for an effective, independent and transparent investigation.

Reporters Without Borders said that remembering Politkovskaya also means defending her right to tell the world about what she witnessed. The organisation called for the circumstances of the crime to be uncovered and for systematic pressure on independent media to end.

The International Press Institute said that those it considers principally responsible for the murder had still not been brought to justice 20 years later. The organisation proposed creating an international mechanism to examine similar cases when a state fails to conduct a full investigation.