Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Ivan Safronov Falls Out of a Window

Ivan Safronov, a Russian journalist who was about to report on Russian sales of armaments to terrorist regimes in the middle east, including Iran and Syria, died last friday when he fell out of a window. One would think that Putin's goons would find a more imaginative way to murder him than by accidental defenestration. Perhaps Vladimir should read up on the ways of his hero Joe Stalin:

Allegedly he [Sergo Ordzhonikidze, one of Stalin's closest supporters] had told Stalin it was time to stop the arrests. Stalin responded by sending him three NKVD men, a doctor and a revolver, offering him the choice of suicide or execution. Ordzhonikidze said goodbye to his wife and duly shot himself, whereupon the doctor diagnosed failure of the heart.

Alex de Jonge, "Stalin and the Shaping of the Soviet Union", p. 331.

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