Inquiry over for five figurants in Politkovskaya's murder case

The investigation into the case against five defendants, accused of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", has been completed, and sufficient evidences to compile the indictment against them have been collected. This was reported by the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Brothers Rustam, Ibragim and Djabrail Makhmudov, Lom-Ali Gaitukaev and Sergey Khadjikurbanov are charged under Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder) and Part 3 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (arms traffic). This was reported by the website of the ICRF.

According to investigators, the crime was organized by Gaitukaev. In 2006, he organized a grouping, which included other defendants, including militia officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov. The murder of the journalist was carefully planned, the activities of the grouping were controlled by Sergey Khadjikurbanov, and the data on the residence of the victim were given by Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov. On October 7, 2006, Makhmudov brothers waited for Anna Politkovskaya near her house. Rustam Makhmudov was at the entrance hall of the house of the journalist, and, when Anna Politkovskaya got into the lift, he shot to her from a pistol. After that, the defendants fled the place and left the weapon at the place.

Evidences for the preparation of indictment have been collected, and the preliminary investigation has been completed. First, the case materials will be examined by the defendants and their lawyers, and then by the victims.

The case has been divided into individual proceedings. "The investigation against a person, who ordered the crime, and against other unidentified persons is underway," states the report of the ICRF.

The defendants accused of killing Anna Politkovskaya intend to ask for being tried by a jury. This was reported by Alexei Mikhalchik, an advocate of one of the figurants in the case. "The law allows us to do it," the "Interfax" quotes the lawyer Mikhalchik as saying.