RUSSIA:Prosecutors have charged nine people, including a lieutenant-colonel in Russia's security service, with involvement in the murder of anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Interfax news agency said yesterday.
Ms Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in October 2006 in her Moscow apartment building. Her killing aroused international indignation and led to pressure on Mr Putin to ensure the crime was solved.
Vyacheslav Smirnov, an official of the prosecutor-general's office, told a Moscow city court that "nine people have been charged in the [ Politkovskaya] criminal case", the Interfax news agency reported.
Earlier, Russian news agencies quoted a source close to the investigation as saying charges had been laid against Lieut Col Pavel Ryaguzov of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for abuse of office.
Lieut Ryaguzov was first arrested in August in connection with another case and his name was also mentioned by investigators working on the Politkovskaya affair. The FSB agent was alleged to have passed on details of the journalist's address to another suspect, who in turn gave them to the killer, agencies quoted investigators as saying.
Lawyers hired by Ms Politkovskaya's relatives lodged a complaint with a Moscow court, saying investigators in the case were barring their access to materials, said one of the lawyers. The Basmanny district court is due to hold hearings on the complaint on October 25th, he said.
Prosecutor general Yuri Chaika announced in August the arrest of 10 suspects in the case. None was charged at the time and some were later released. Mr Chaika said the killing was masterminded from abroad by anti-Kremlin forces trying to discredit Russia, though he did not offer any proof.
Ms Politkovskaya's newspaper expressed concern when the lead investigator on the case was effectively demoted at the beginning of September. It said Kremlin hardliners were interfering in the case.