Case of Pavlyuchenkov accused of killing Anna Politkovskaya sent to court

The case initiated against Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former employee of the GUVD (Chief Interior Department) of Moscow, who is accused of murdering the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, has been transferred to the court, the Russia's GPO (General Prosecutor's Office) reports.

He is charged with a murder under Part 2, Article 105, of the Criminal Code and under Part 3, Article 222, with illegal possession of firearms, says the website of the GPO.

According to investigators, with the aim to kill the journalist, Lom-Ali Gaitukaev set up a criminal grouping, which included Pavlyuchenkov, the former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Sergey Khadjiikurbanov and Makhmudov brothers. Pavlyuchenkov was in charge of locating Politkovskaya and tracing her travel routes. He involved his subordinates to shadow the journalist, and delivered the data to Gaitukaev. Besides, he bought a pistol for the murder.

The defendant has fully admitted his guilt of involvement in the murder. The case against him will be considered by the Moscow City Court in the special order of the trial.

The defence of Anna Politkovskaya's family intends to ask the Moscow City Court to examine the case files against Pavlyuchenkov prior to sentence him. "Our position has not changed – we'll raise the issue that the case should not be considered in the special order," the "Interfax" quotes the lawyer Anna Stavitskaya as saying.