A British reader forwards his first-hand account (with photo above) of the London memorial services for Anna Politkovskaya:

It was a moving event, chaired by Vanessa Regrave the actress. She is an old time Trotskyist (at least she was) but her tears were very genuine and I warmed to her obvious compassion for Anna and her family even if I think her political views are barmy. Old time Russian dissidents warned that things were headed the same way as the Soviet days. You would have been heartened to hear the same thoughts that LR expresses voiced in the House of Lords by two British peers as well as a number of Russians, her publisher, and her literary agent. Actually it was one of their Committee Rooms, rather than the House itself, but that is the way we would say it - "In" the House of Lords. Her niece was there and spoke movingly about how worried the family were by the dangers to her. Anna had just discovered that her daughter was pregnant and she was going to be a grandmother. So sad. Amnesty sent a senior staff member with a message from their Director and the British National Union of Journalists is protesting outside the Russian Embassy in London tomorrow. The NUJ national director also spoke at the gathering. Flowers laid at Westminster Abbey plus 90 minutes of speeches in the House of Lords. Yelena Bonner sent a special message over. Very moving.