Defense claims the person charged with the murder of Politkovskaya has an alibi

Today, during the session of Moscow military district court which was considering the case of murder of  Anna Politkovskaya, columnist of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, the defense lawyers of defendant Sergei Khudzhikurbanov has presented a proof that he was not at the spot on the day of the murder.

"Echo of Moscow" reports that the defense presented details of his mobile telephone calls as a proof of his innocence.

The defense lawyer showed on the map of Moscow that before the murder and after it Khudzhikurbanov or, to be more exact, his telephone was not in the vicinity of Lesnaya Street. On the day of the murder the defendant's telephone was in the south-west of Moscow and never entered the city center.

Dmitri Grachev, witness for the defense, stated that Khudzhikurbanov had never met with the Makhmudov brothers who are also accused of the murder of the journalist.

"I think that the proceedings enter a final stage", stated lawyer Anna Stavitskaya who represents the interests of the victim, Politkovskaya family, before journalists. The lawyer added: "I hope that the opinion of the jury will be made public before the end of January".