Court sentences defendants in Anna Politkovskaya's murder case to prison terms from 12 years to life imprisonment

Today, the Moscow City Court has found four natives of Chechnya - three Makhmudov brothers, entrepreneur Lom-Ali Gaitukaev, and ex-militiaman Sergey Khadjikurbanov, guilty in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Court's decision was based on the appropriate verdict of the jury.

The Court has ruled that during the trial, it has been proven that Lom-Ali Gaitukaev was an organizer of the murder. In 2006, he created an organized grouping, which included the other defendants in the case and Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who had been earlier sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. Investigators believe that Lom-Ali Gaitukaev controlled the grouping's activity via phone and that in Moscow the crime was organized by Sergey Khadjikurbanov.

Rustam Makhmudov has been recognized to be a criminal, who committed the murder. Rustam Makhmudov and Lom-Ali Gaitukaev were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ibragim and Djabrail, the Makhmudov brothers, were sentenced to 12 and 14 years of imprisonment, respectively. Sergey Khadjikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. This was reported by the website of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist, who published materials about Northern Caucasus, was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006. The Moscow City Court has reconsidered the case. The defendants pleaded not guilty.

See earlier reports: Defence in Politkovskaya's murder case demands to nullify jury's verdict, AI: customers of Politkovskaya's murder must stand trial, Jury finds defendants in Politkovskaya murder case guilty.