2006. The murder of Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Politkovskaya. 2006. Photo by Dmitry Borko

Nine years ago, on October 7, 2006, Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya were shot in the elevator in the center of Moscow. The investigation and the court adhered to the “Chechen trace”, believing that the murder became the revenge of the journalist, who revealed numerous human rights violations in Chechnya.

Former employee of the capital's Central Internal Affairs Directorate, police lieutenant colonel Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov in December 2012 for participating in the murder of Politkovskaya was sentenced to 11 years in a maximum security colony. In June 2014, the Chechen criminal authority of Loma Ali Gaitukaev, considered the customer of the murder, and the direct executor of the murder of Rustam Makhmudov were sentenced to life imprisonment. Former operational employee of the ethnic department of RUBOP, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov received 20 years in prison, Jabrail Mahmudov - 13.5 years old and Ibrahim Makhmudov - 12 years in prison. The investigation did not consider the version of the possible connection of the organizers of the murder with Ramzan Kadyrov.