21:00, 29 August 2012

Inquiry into Politkovskaya's death extended till December

Investigators have decided to extend the inquiry into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya till December 7 this year.

According to Alexei Mikhalchik, an advocate of one of the figurants, now the total inquiry period – from the moment of opening the criminal case – will make 74 months, the "Interfax" reports.

Currently, the case against Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, an alleged accomplice in the crime and a former police officer, was isolated into a separate proceeding; and after acquaintance with the case files, it will go to the court. As explained by Vladimir Markin, the spokesman of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the case against Pavlyuchenkov is in its final stage.

The advocate suggests that after sentencing Pavlyuchenkov and enactment of the verdict, investigators will announce the end of the inquiry against the remaining figurants.

"I can suppose that in October, the inquiry will be completed; after which we'll have to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case, which already has more than 100 volumes," The RAPSI quotes Mr Mikhalchik as saying.