Jurors have found five defendants guilty of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. These were the organizers and perpetrators of crime, though the “customer” who ordered the murder has not yet been found. On Wednesday the court will announce the sentences the guilty will face.

Jurors in the Moscow City Court found Chechnya native Lom-Ali Gaytukayev guilty of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a verdict that was received by the court.

It was determined that, in order to commit the crime, the defendant organized a criminal group that included his nephews Rustam Makhmudov (who carried out the murder by shooting the journalist four times), Ibrahim Makhmudov and Jabriel Makhmudov (who followed Politkovskaya), as well as former Moscow city police detective Sergey Khadjikurbanov (who, along with Lom-Ali Gaytukayev, was found guilty of organizing the murder).

The customer who ordered the crime, however, has never been found.

Following the court hearings, the jury found all five defendants guilty. Since Rustam Makhmudov had been convicted previously in another case — abducting and extorting money from a certain Ovelyan, as well as illicit arms trafficking — the jury decided that he was undeserving of leniency. Jabriel Makhmudov and Gaytukayev were also found guilty of arms trafficking.

The jury determined that only Ibrahim Makhmudov was deserving of leniency.

Recall that the court was largely guided by the testimony of another participant in the murder — Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who had provided the others with information on the location of Politkovskaya’s residence.  During the trial he was long considered the key witness. The criminal case against Pavlyuchenkov was separate from this trial. Afterwards he signed a pre-trial agreement on cooperation and gave incriminating testimony against the other five defendants. The court to sentenced Pavlyuchenkov to 11 years imprisonment in a strict-regimen penal colony.

On Wednesday it is expected that a Moscow City Court judge will state the terms that the guilty will spend in prison. Lawyers for the defendants have already stated that they will appeal the verdict.

The murdered journalist’s children, Vera Politkovskaya and Ilya Politkovsky, in a joint statement with their attorney, Anna Stavitskaya, stated: “We respect and accept the jury’s verdict, just as we accepted their last verdict of acquittal. We have to accept any verdict the jury has rendered.

“As for the case, we believe that only a little part of the criminal group has been brought to justice. We our convinced that the crime will not be solved until the customer who ordered it has been found.”

Relatives and colleagues of Anna Politkovskaya regret that investigators have still been unable to establish who ordered the murder of the journalist.

“Unfortunately, not a single person in this trial or verdict was even remotely close to the customer who ordered the murder,” summarized Ilya Politkovsky. “This is a major disappointment.”  He stated that he does not know if law enforcement authorities have made any progress in the search for whomever it was who ordered the murder of his mother.

The Russian Investigative Committee (SKR) assured us, however, that the search for whomever ordered the killing continues.

“Comprehensive measures are currently being taken to establish who it was that ordered the murder of Anna Politkovskaya,” stated SKR spokesman Vladimir Markin. “A criminal case in this regards is separate (from these proceedings).”

Recall that ‘Novaya Gazeta’ journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her house in the center of Moscow (Lesnaya Street #8) on October 7th, 2006. Near her body, police found a Makarov pistol with a silencer, as well as with four fired cartridges. From the very beginning of the investigation, the theory was that it was a basic contract killing — four shots were fired to commit the murder, including a “control shot” (shot to the head).

Anna Politkovskaya was a special correspondent for ‘Novaya Gazeta’ and repeatedly traveled to conflict hot spots. In January of 2000, she received the “Golden Pen of Russia” award for her series on the fighting in Chechnya. She also received several other prestigious awards.  Politkovskaya was active in human rights activities: she aided mothers of dead soldiers defend their rights in the courts, investigated corruption at the Joint Chechnya Command of the Ministry of Defense, and assisted ‘Nord-Ost’ victims.

Her death caused a great public outcry in Russia and abroad. There were numerous rallies in memory of Anna Politkovskaya and in defense of journalists and freedom of speech. The journalist’s colleagues at ‘Novaya Gazeta’ conducted their own investigation into her murder, and actively assisted in the search for suspects.

In ‘Gazeta.ru’

Comments (1)

1. Странные комплекты убийц Written by 925 , on 19-03-2015 10:53 Не странно ли высказывалась против войны в Чечне со стороны России и была убита чеченами? В случае Немцова — так же очень неожиданный комплект убийц. Report

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