Russia charges nine in Politkovskaya case
Prosecutors have charged nine people, including a lieutenant-colonel in Russia`s security service, with involvement in the murder of anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Interfax news agency said on Wednesday.
Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in October 2006 in her Moscow apartment building. Her killing aroused international indignation and led to pressure on Putin to ensure the crime was solved.
Vyacheslav Smirnov, an official of the prosecutor-general`s office, told a Moscow city court that "nine people have been charged in the (Politkovskaya) criminal case," the Interfax news agency reported.
Earlier, Russian news agencies quoted a source close to the investigation as saying charges had been laid against Lieutenant-Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for abuse of office.
Ryaguzov was first arrested in August in connection with another case and his name was also mentioned by investigators working on the Politkovskaya affair.
The FSB agent was alleged to have passed on details of the journalist`s address to another suspect, who in turn gave them to the killer, Russian agencies quoted investigators as saying.
A team of lawyers hired by Politkovskaya`s relatives lodged a complaint with a Moscow court, saying the investigators looking into the journalist`s murder were barring their access to the materials of the case, one of the lawyers told Reuters.
The Basmanny district court is due to hold hearings on the complaint on October 25, he said, requesting anonymity.
Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika announced in August the arrest of 10 suspects in the Politkovskaya case. None was charged at the time and some were later released.
Chaika said the killing was masterminded from abroad by anti-Kremlin forces trying to discredit Russia, though he did not offer any proof.
Politkovskaya`s newspaper expressed concern when the lead investigator on the case was effectively demoted at the beginning of September. It said Kremlin hardliners were interfering in the case.
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