Arrests Made in Journalist's Death

Ten Russians have been arrested on suspicion of murdering the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The identities of all the suspects are not known but Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said they include an FSB officer and the leader of a Chechen organized crime gang.

Politkovskaya was undoubtedly President Vladimir Putin's most forceful critic. The highly respected investigative journalist was shot dead last October.

She was shot several times in the body and then once in the head while leaving the elevator at her apartment in Moscow. A Makarov nine-millimeter pistol was left on the site. Politkovskaya would have turned 49 this week.

Among those arrested were a police major, three police officers and a FSB officer. "Unfortunately, this group included retired and acting interior ministry and FSB officers." The Federal Security Service officer was named as Lt. Col. Pavel Ryaguzov. "I think these are serious arrests based on real evidence," argued Alexei Simonov, chairman of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a leading Russian media rights watchdog. However, Simonov doubts that we will ever know who is really behind this murder. In all likelihood, the Russian authorities will "steer the case in the direction of London." Read more