Politkovskaya murderer charged

The Russian Investigative Committee has charged Rustam Mahmoudov with
the murder of the journalist of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper Anna
Politkovskaya and a set of other crimes, a spokesman for the committee
Vladimir Markin said, RIA Novosti reports.

Mahmoudov committed other crimes in Moscow in the 90s, including
kidnappings and racketeering. He was arrested in Chechnya and taken to
Moscow.

Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said that Mahmoudov, born in
1973, had been put on the federal wanted list for murder and illegal
arms storage. He was put on the international wanted list on May 4,
2011 for the murder of Politkovskaya.

Politkovskaya was a renowned journalist investigating human rights
violations in Chechnya. She was killed in the elevator of her house on
Lesnaya Street in Moscow on October 7 , 2006. The police believe that
the main motive for the murder was her professional activities.

Three suspects were released by the jury earlier. The release was
later cancelled by the Supreme Court. The investigation was then
resumed.

A former member of the Russian Interior Ministry, Sergey Hajikurbanov,
who was released from Butyrskaya Prison two weeks prior to
Politkovskaya's murder, organized a criminal group, which included
Ibragim and Jabrail Mahmoudov. They were charged with spying on the
journalist.

The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said
that there is no direct evidence. The investigation will continue
until September 7, 2011.