Politkovskaya murder case should only be closed after mastermind is found - lawyer
MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - The victims in the criminal case involving the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya believe today's decision of the Supreme Court cannot be considered to be the final decision on this case, Anna Stavitsakaya, a lawyer for the victims, told Interfax on Friday.
"The victims believe we can say that the case is only closed when the mastermind of the crime has been found. The issue of the mastermind has not been resolved," Stavitskaya said.
The lawyer said the investigators have not yet achieved the desired results on the issue of determining the mastermind.
"The investigators have not made any headway in the search for the mastermind at all," Stavitskaya said.
According to earlier reports, the Russian Supreme Court on Friday reduced by six months the jail term for Jabrail Makhmudov, a suspect in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The sentences of the other people implicated in the case, two of whom have been sentenced to life in prison, were left unchanged.
Novaya Gazeta observer Politkovskaya was killed on October 7, 2006 in the lobby of her apartment building in Moscow. The masterminds of the killing have not been determined.
According to the investigators, the mastermind of the crime is Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who created an organized group comprising the other defendants in 2006. According to the Investigative Committee, members of the group thoroughly planned the killing, purchased weapons and coordinated their actions among themselves, and "S. Khadzhikurbanov controlled all actions by the group."
None of the five defendants admit their guilt. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former police officer, who made a deal with the investigators and admitted his guilt, has been convicted of the crime. According to the investigators, Pavlyuchenkov followed Politkovskaya on the order of Lom-Ali Gaitukayev and received $150,000 for it.