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27 Aug, 2007 08:17

Ten arrested in connection with Anna Politkovskaya`s murder

Ten people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian newspaper journalist who was shot dead in her Moscow apartment block in October 2006. The investigation is said to be centred around the theory of the murder bein

A Moscow court has sanctioned the arrest of eight people in connection with the case.

The Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika broke the news to President Putin at a meeting earlier in the day.
 
“We have made serious progress in this case. As of today, ten people have been detained and in the nearest future they will be charged in connection with this grave crime,” said Yury Chaika.

Anna Politkovskaya was killed when she was returning to her home in central Moscow. A pistol and four shells were found near her body.
 
A CCTV video showed a man entering the apartment building and then walking out at about the time the journalist was murdered.
 
Early reports indicated a contract killing, but it was unclear who ordered the murder.
 
One of the main versions put forward by the investigation was, and still is, that Politkovskaya was killed because of her professional activity.
 
She was known for her critical works on Chechnya and the North Caucasus.
 
“In seven years working for the newspaper she published almost 600 articles, almost all of them related to Chechnya – abductions, tortures, killings, corruption amongst military and police. And her articles were always very proving, so almost 40 criminal cases were launched on the basis of the publications,” commented Vitaly Yaroshevsky, Novaya Gazeta Editor-in-Chief.
 
The audacious killing shocked the world and triggered a wave of protest. International journalists and politicians condemned the murder of Politkovskaya.
 
Rallies took place both in Russia and abroad demanding of an imminent and thorough investigation.
 
The killing of a journalist known for her critical approach to the government's policies, caused some Western observers to accuse the Kremlin of somehow being involved.
 
President Putin rejected this idea.
 
“Whoever committed this crime and whatever the motifs were, it was a disgusting crime abhorring in its cruelty and it surely should not be left unpunished. Indeed she sharply criticised the existing government of Russia, but journalists should know, and experts are fully aware, that as for the degree of her influence on the political life in Russia, it was very insignificant. I think that the murder itself has caused much greater damage and loss, than any of her publications,” he stated.
 
Anna Politkovskaya was posthumously awarded with the UNESCO Freedom of the Press award.

The detention of ten people in connection to her murder is the first big break in the case giving hope those responsible will be brought to justice.

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