Men Charged in Russian Journalist's Murder

According to Russian authorities investigating the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, three men have been charged over the crime. Their role in the murder was not explained.On June 18, the investigative committee of the Prosecutor-General's Office named the accused as Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov. Khadzhikurbanov is a former police officer. The Makhmudov brothers are from Chechnya.

Certainly, no one seems to believe that these accusations mark the end of the investigation. "I have said many times that this is only the first part of the case," said Sergei Sokolov, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta."I am calling on all our colleagues to be attentive to what is going on. If you look carefully at the investigative committee's official announcement, it says they have completed the investigation into the specific people who have been named in connection with the case. This means that the Politkovskaya investigation is not finished, but that it has only completed one part. It's not over yet, there will be a second and a third part."Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, also points out that "no criminal cases have been opened in relation to those who released leaks. It's through their fault the murderer remains at large."Muratov insists that Novaya Gazeta will continue its own independent investigation into the murder: "We believe, as before, that the investigation is on the right track. But one cannot interpret this as an end, or say that the crime has been solved." Read full story

Russian Reporter's Killer Identified

To mark the first anniversary of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, her newspaper, the independent Novaya Gazeta, is issuing a special edition on Monday. According to its editor, the identity of Politkovskaya's murderer is now known, although he has not been arrested. The identity of the person who organized the crime, however, remains unknown."The organizer is free. This crime cannot be considered solved," said Dmitry A. Muratov, the paper's editor in chief.

In one of the main articles of the special issue, Petros V. Garibyan, the prosecutor leading the investigation is interviewed at length."We have not charged the killer yet, but we know who he is," Garibyan is quoted as saying.Another key article, "Anna and the Clown," describes the torture of Eduard Ponikarov by a group of men that included Pavel Ryaguzov, then a major in the FSB (Russia's Federal Security Service.Ryaguzov wanted Ponikarov to work as an FSB informant, under the code-name Clown. Ponikarov has confirmed the story to Western media.Late last August, Ryaguzov was arrested. Russian prosecutors accused him of assisting Politkovskaya's killers by giving them her home address.However, Muratov and Yuri Y. Chaika, Russia's prosecutor general, disagree on a very sensitive issue. Read full story

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

Russian Journalist Assassinated

Anna Politkovskaya was Russia's most famous but also least wanted journalist as she was undoubtedly President Vladimir Putin's most forceful critic. "I dislike him for … his cynicism, for his racism, for his lies … for the massacre of the innocents which went on throughout his first term as president," she wrote in her recent book "Putin's Russia."

She was killed on Saturday at her apartment block in Moscow. She was shot three times in the body and then once in the head, while leaving the elevator. A Makarov 9-millimeter pistol was left on the site, strongly suggesting a contract killing. A neighbor found her dead body shortly after 5 p.m.

Politkovskaya was very critical about the war in Chechnya, which she described as state terrorism vs. group terrorism. She had repeatedly denounced the responsibilities of Putin and Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin strong man in Chechnya. On Friday, she had been writing a story about torture in Chechnya. The Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper for which Politkovskaya worked, was expected to receive her draft Saturday night and to publish the article on Monday. As the draft was never sent, the Newspaper published an account of her death instead.

On May 19, 2002, Politkovskaya signed an article entitled "Children of Chechen Spetzoperations." "He was subjected to the same electric torture as the grown men. Having themselves been tortured, these men pleaded with Russian officers not to torture the boy but to torture them again in his place. 'No way,' was the reply. 'We get good counter-terrorist information out of schoolboys,'" she wrote. Read full story