22:49, 11 November 2006

Suspect of Politkovskaya's murder moves his version of the crime

Militia lieutenant colonel Alexander Prilepin, searched on suspicion of participation in Anna Politkovskaya's murder, gave an interview to journalists of the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" newspaper, in which he declared his innocence and that the crime was politically motivated.

"I think politics to be the basic version. To my mind, the super-task of Politkovskaya's murder was to make as much noise as possible. A great resonance is guaranteed whenever a figure well-known in the West is murdered. It's all targeted at the forthcoming elections. A shadow is thrown on the authorities whom Politkovskaya has criticized. Same as the version about our, militiamen's, mixing up with the murder throws a shadow on the federal forces in Chechnya. I'm sure that there are forces who benefit a lot from all that," Mr. Prilepin stated.

According to one of the versions of the investigation, the motive for Politkovskaya's murder was revenge by militiamen from Khanty-Mansisk who were heroes of her publications. Militiamen from the Khanty-Mansisk District were on service in Chechnya some time ago.