Broken Fingers of Free Speech

The Russian authorities yesterday faced demands to prosecute the attackers of a journalist branded a "traitor" by a youth organisation linked to the country's ruling party, reports the Independent.

'he had all his fingers broken' 

Oleg Kashin, 30, a reporter for the Kommersant daily, was set upon by two unknown assailants late on Friday, 5 November. Mr Kashin, who covered youth political movements for the newspaper and was one of its best-known reporters, was beaten, leaving him with a broken leg and jaw and a fractured skull. He remained in an induced coma in a hospital in Moscow yesterday.

In the most chilling part of the attack, Mr Kashin had all his fingers broken, with part of one finger being detached – a message that gave extra suspicion that the attack was linked to his journalism.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 18 murders of journalists have gone unsolved since 2000, including that of Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.

And this is what happened to Victor Jara, the legendary Chilean poet-singer and activist:

On the morning of 12 September 1973, Jara was taken, along with thousands of others, as a prisoner to the Chile Stadium. Jara was repeatedly beaten and tortured; the bones in his hands were broken as were his ribs. Fellow political prisoners have testified that his captors mockingly suggested that he play guitar for them as he lay on the ground with broken hands. Defiantly, he sang part of ‘Venceremos’ (We Will Win), a song supporting the Popular Unity coalition. An officer played Russian roulette with Jara, by placing a single round in his revolver, spinning the cylinder, placing the muzzle against Jara's head and pulling the trigger. The officer repeated this a couple of times, until a shot fired and Víctor fell to the ground. The officer then ordered two soldiers to finish the job, by firing into Jara's body. 

In 2008-2009 new investigation into Jara's death established who killed him. One of the soldiers was arrested and charged, the name of the officer was also confirmed. 

This is Victor Jara's song 'Cutting the Fetters' (A Desalambrar)