07 October 2021, 18:28
Customers of Anna Politkovskaya's murder remain unpunished for 15 years
On the 15th anniversary of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports about the progress of the investigation into the assassination, recalling that this year the statute of limitation for the crime expires. The results of the investigation conducted by Politkovskaya's colleagues are presented in a documentary film.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that actions in memory of Anna Politkovskaya are held annually. On October 7, 2019, residents of Moscow laid flowers at the house where Anna lived and was killed 13 years before that, in 2006; and residents of Saint Petersburg went out to a mass picket. Politkovskaya was a bright example of an honest journalist who hadn't broken down under authorities' pressure, protesters have claimed. Then, the editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta" said that in two years (that is today, October 7, 2021), the limitation period in Politkovskaya's murder case would expire, and the customer would forever remain unpunished.
Anna Politkovskaya, who was known for her articles on the war and human rights violations in Chechnya, was shot dead in Moscow on October 7, 2006. The court found that Lom-Ali Gaitukaev was the customer of the crime; he was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Rustam Makhmudov was recognized to be the direct executor.
The inquiry into the murder consisted of a series of failures; the first of them being associated with the discovery of the murder customer, the "Novaya Gazeta" writes now. Initially, investigators thought about the involvement of Boris Berezovsky, an oligarch, in the murder, but this version was not confirmed. Then, investigators switched over to the Chechen emigrant Akhmed Zakaev.
The versions that the customer was either the fugitive oligarch Berezovsky or the Chechen emigrant Akhmed Zakaev have nothing to do with reality, the children of Anna Politkovskaya, Vera and Ilya, believe.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 7, 2021 at 00:37 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
