10 years since the murder of the editor -in -chief of Forbes Paul Khlebnikov: the killers are still free, relatives of the journalist ask Putin to speed up the investigation

Exactly ten years ago, on July 9, 2004, there was a loud murder of the editor -in -chief of the Russian Forbes magazine Paul Khlebnikov . However, for a ten -year period, the investigation brought almost no results, despite the assurances of Vladimir Putin, who promised the relatives of the deceased journalist to punish the guilty at all costs. Today, family members of Khlebnikov again turn to the Russian president with a request to bring criminals to be liable, Forbes reports.

As stated in the appeal signed by the widow of Khlebnikov by the muse and his brothers Michael and Peter, the relatives of the shot journalist express their regret in connection with a protracted investigation.

In their opinion, the disclosure of the murder will proof that the judicial system can still act in Russia effectively. “When we met with President Putin in 2004, he assured us that every effort would be made so that the executors and customer of the murder would appear before the court,” the journalist’s widow said.

“Ten years ago, we called it a litmus piece of paper for the Russian government, and today the results indicate the failure of the judicial system,” she added, recalling that the alleged murder executors were detained and released, and the customer of the crime was never named.

"Paul Khlebnikov believed in the best Russia. Supporting his beliefs, the Paul family collaborated with Russian law enforcement agencies and acted within the framework of the legal system in an attempt to guarantee that justice would happen. The inability to investigate this cruel crime shows that Russia further than ever, from the country for which Paul worked and ultimately gave its lives," said relatives of the murdered person. journalist in his appeal.

Murder of Paul Khlebnikov and the slowness of the investigation

Paul Khlebnikov is the first editor -in -chief of the Russian Forbes, which started in April 2004. In May of the same year, a list of 100 richest people in Russia was first published, who caused dissatisfaction with many people who fell into it. Khlebnikov was shot dead in Moscow on July 9, 2004 near the Forbes editorial office in the north of Moscow. The shots were fired from the passing VAZ-2115 car. The journalist with four wounds in the stomach and to the chest managed to bring to the hospital where he died.

In the case of the murder, two natives of Chechnya were held - Musa Vakhaev and Kazbek Dukuzov , as well as the Moscow notary Fail Sadretdinov . The jury in May 2006 in the Moscow City Court fully justified the defendants, they were released from the guard. The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed this decision, and in November 2006 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation canceled the acquittal, but the two disappeared abroad. The case against them is suspended. In addition, charges were removed from Magomed Edilsultanov.

In September 2013, a former police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who was a witness to the no less high -profile case about the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, said in court that two defendants in Politkovskaya’s affairs were involved in the murder of Paul Khlebnikov. Pavlyuchenkov said that he had previously organized surveillance of the editor-in-chief of Forbes by order of convicted ex-captain of the capital's RUBOP Sergey Khadzhikurbanov and Loma Ali Gaitukaev.

So far, the case of Khlebnikov, who fell into the mournful list of journalists who died in Russia, is not moving. By the death of his first editor -in -chief, Forbes released a film telling about Khlebnikov, his publications and work as the head of the Russian version of the magazine.

At the beginning of his career, Khlebnikov wrote about the activities of the largest American and international companies, as well as about events and people in Russia - economic reforms, businessmen and politicians. In 2000, Khlebnikov’s book “The Cross Father of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the looting of Russia” was published, and the 1996 article “The Cross Father of the Kremlin?” Preceded it, in which the version of the possible involvement of the oligarch in the murder of the journalist Vladislav Listyev was nominated. In 2003, the book “Talk to the Barbarian” was published about organized crime in Chechnya, based on gazens with Chechen. Field commander Khozh-Ahmed Nukhaev.

The investigation considered as a working version that Boris Berezovsky was the customer of Khlebnikov’s murder. According to the former bodyguard Berezovsky Sergey Sokolov, the businessman was “very indignant” and demanded to “remove” the journalist. Subsequently, Berezovsky filed a lawsuit against Forbes in the London Court. The dispute ended in 2003 by the conclusion of a settlement agreement.

It is worth noting a sad line that is inherent in most high -profile murders of journalists in Russia - their investigations stretch extremely slowly, and customers are usually not detected. A striking example of this is the murder of Anna Politkovskaya: despite the fact that the performers have been convicted, the name of the customer remains unknown. All the more offensive it becomes for journalists who died, fulfilling their duty, who were looking for the truth and eventually paid their lives; The more shameful authorities look more delayed, which delayed investigations, the results of which are waiting for the indignant public. On the occasion of the death of Paul Khlebnikov , Kommersant publishes a selection of photographs of famous world journalists who died in the performance of their duties.