Russian investigators have named a resident of Chechen as a prime suspect in assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The man is currently at large and was charged in absentia.
The Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General Service said on Monday that the "immediate executor of the murder" was Rustam Makhmudov, 34, the resident of the Chechen Republic whose whereabouts are currently unknown. The prosecutor general's office charged him in absentia and issued an international arrest warrant for him.
Russian police still have in custody three of Rustam Makhmudov's brothers - Tamerlan, Dzhabrail and Ibrahim - who are suspected of complicity in the assassination but who are not believed to have taken part in the actual killing.
It was also reported on Monday that two other suspects in the case - Magomed Dimelkhanov and Dmitry Grachev - had been released from custody with a travel ban. Grachev was released in April and Dimelkhanov on May 7 as investigators said their role in the crime was minor and they had provided the police with extensive information. Curiously, the announcement was made as the court considered Dimelkhanov's appeal to free him from custody, provided by his lawyer. The lawyer did not give any comments to the press after the court session.
The court move raised suspicion of the Department for Overseeing Especially Important Cases with the Prosecutor General's Office. The department's spokesperson Marina Gridneva told the Interfax news agency that they were going to "request all necessary materials to check the lawfulness and foundation of the decisions taken."
At present, investigators have pressed charges in connection with Politkovskaya's assassination against nine people - they are Shamil Burayev - the former head of the Achkhoi Martan district of the Chechen Republic, Moscow policeman Sergei Khadjikurbanov, and the abovementioned Magomed Dimelkhanov, Dmitry Grachev and the four Makhmudov brothers.
Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper was shot dead in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building in October 2006. Many observers linked the assassination with Politkovskaya's extremely critical reports of human rights violations in Chechnya.
Russian authorities denied any involvement in the murder; Russian investigators voiced the suggestion that the murder had been ordered by individuals outside Russia in an effort to discredit the authorities.
Boris Berezovsky - a former Kremlin insider and vocal critic of Vladimir Putin's policies who is wanted in Russia on embezzlement charges and now lives in exile in Britain - had been suggested as a possible suspect in the high-profile case. He denies allegations of his complicity in the murder.
Novaya Gazeta is conducting its own investigation into the case, and Rustam Makhmudov was named as prime suspect in the killing in March this year. Back then, investigators criticized the journalists for early disclosure of information but made no further comments on the report.
Interpol's Central Bureau in Russia told the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS on Tuesday that they had not yet received an arrest warrant for Makhmudov but they expect it to arrive soon.
As it happens, the suspect will be put on the wanted lists in all countries that are Interpol members - 186 in total. However, there is one matching name in the Interpol database - in 2001 Rustam Makhmudov was declared wanted in connection with an abduction case.
By Kirill Bessonov
