Who was Behind the Murder of Paul Klebnikov?

It has been over a year since American journalist Paul Klebnikov was gunned down on a Moscow street. Klebnikov, 41, was founding editor of Forbes Russia when, as he left work, he was shot ten times at close range in a gangland-style killing. He left behind a wife and three young children. His murder remains unsolved, at least in any way that dispassionate observers find convincing.

For that reason, some of his friends, joined by responsible journalists from several news organizations, have joined to launch Project Klebnikov, which debuted Monday, July 9, the one-year anniversary of his death. This Wall Street Journal story ($), the first I've read of the Project, notes that "Russian prosecutors have alleged that a fugitive Chechen warlord hired Chechen contract killers to carry out the attack, and two of the alleged killers are in custody. Relatives of Mr. Klebnikov are skeptical about this version of events." Some participants in the project are working on background; institutions on record as supporting it include Forbes, Vanity Fair, and Bloomberg.

An excellent description of both Project Klebnikov's aims and the lawless situation in Russia that allowed for his contract murder is the Project's first press release, dated July 11. As to why he became the only American journalist to be murdered in Russia, the Project's biography of him notes:

He eventually moved to Moscow to become the first editor of Forbes Russia. The magazine’s premier issue, in May 2004, included a list of the 100 richest Russians -- a controversial revelation in a country where too many people on the list earned their money the old-fashioned way – by looting. Even so, Klebnikov was an optimist. He wrote in the magazine that he believed that Russian society had turned the corner and was entering a healthier period.

In addition to his articles, Klebnikov authored two books: “Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia,” and “Conversation with a Barbarian,” a series of his interviews with Chechen rebel leader and onetime Moscow gang boss Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, who was recently identified by the Kremlin as the mastermind of the Klebnikov murder. (The announcement, with no evidence to support it, has been met with some skepticism.)

Needless to say, Klebnikov had many enemies in a nation ruled not by laws, but by men. The Project's web site also contains this incisive (and Burkean) commentary on modern Russia:

Putin has promised to bring a “dictatorship of law” in Russia, and he is making progress on numerous fronts. But, as even Klebnikov understood, “a real democracy can be built only on the foundation of a vigorous civil society -- hundreds of thousands of institutions and associations operating independently from the state.” Otherwise, he added, “the role of people is like the role of the crowd in a football match…. it will take years, perhaps a whole generation, to develop Russia’s civic infrastructure.”

This need for civic institutions is demonstrated not only by the murder of Klebnikov, but of the pattern into which his killing fits:

At least 12 reporters have been murdered in contract-style hits since the Putin government came to power - the latest on June 28 - and not a single case has been solved, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which just completed a conference in Moscow with the families of the victims. As Paul himself wrote about how the big business of murder was undermining Russia: “The police solve only a fraction of these contract killings. There simply is no political will to enforce the law.”

Given the extraordinarily poor performance of the White House press corps and their petulant, even amateurish efforts to bring down Karl Rove (and, therefore, the President) over a non-issue (see yesterday's WSJ editorial on this matter), it's important to remember that not all journalists are so petty and self-important. For those working in Russia, investigative reporting of the kind that uncovers facts can be a lethal game. Let's hope that Paul Klebnikov's colleagues get to the bottom of this case, and that the phrase "Russian civil society" rings less hollow in the years ahead.

Update: Mark Tapscott has some incisive commentary and information about the press's inability to concentrate on real stories rather than pursue partisan ends.