Russia charges Chechen politician in scribe’s murder

Russian prosecutors have charged former head of the Chechen Achkhoi-Martan district administration,

Russian prosecutors have charged former head of the Chechen Achkhoi-Martan district administration, Shamil Burayev, with complicity in the murder of famous investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, last year.

“The Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has charged Burayev with the murder complicity,” Burayev’s lawyer Pyotr Kozakov told Itar-Tass news agency.

In the opinion of the investigators, Burayev received information about Politkovskaya’s place of residence from Federal Security Service Lt. Col. Pavel Ryaguzov and passed it to the prospective killers — the Makhmudov brothers.

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Burayev, who unsuccessfully contested the presidential elections in Chechnya in 2003 against Akhmad Kadyrov, father of the current incumbent Ramzan Kadyrov, maintained his innocence during the interrogation. “Burayev said he has nothing to do with this crime. This is his clear position, and he is determined to prove it and to defend his honest name,” Interfax news agency quoted Kazakov as saying.

Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika last month informed President Vladimir Putin that 10 suspects, including serving and former security officers, had been arrested in the contact-style killing of Politkovskaya, working with liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

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