The man suspected of killing Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 is hiding in Western Europe, Russia's chief criminal investigator said Tuesday, according to Reuters.
Some details:
"According to our information, the murderer is hiding in Western Europe," Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Prosecutor-General's investigation unit, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "We even know which country he is in," he said, without identifying the country.
Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station, citing unnamed sources, said Moscow had submitted a request to Belgium for the suspect's extradition. But the Belgian justice ministry later said it had received no extradition request from Russia.
Politkovskaya, 48, a critic of the Kremlin who faced intimidation for her reporting on human rights abuses in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus region, was shot on October 7, 2006, outside her Moscow apartment.
Her murder was one of the highest profile killings of former President Vladimir Putin's eight-year rule and highlighted the dangers to reporters of working in Russia. The authorities have yet to put anyone on trial for the killing.
Prosecutors have previously identified the suspected killer as Rustam Makhmudov. Prosecutors last month announced they had completed their investigation into the murder and had charged three men with involvement.
The three men in detention, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, Ibragim Makhmudov and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, are expected to go on trial soon. Russian media say Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov are related to Rustam Makhmudov.
