MOSCOW, October 8 (Itar-Tass) —— Ex-policeman Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov incriminated in the case of Novaya Gazeta observer Anna Politkovskaya’s assassination has given valuable testimony in another high-profile case, Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said on Monday, October 8.
“Pavlyuchenkov has given valuable testimony concerning another grave crime that caused international reverberations,” Markin said, adding that Pavlyuchenkov’s testimony has been borne out by other witnesses in the case.
He did not provide details.
The criminal case against Pavlyuchenkov was separated from the Politkovskaya case following his agreement to cooperate with police. The investigation was finished on September 6.
Markin told Itar-Tass that “the affected parties have finished studying the case files. Pavlyuchenkov and his lawyers will start reading the materials tomorrow.”
According to the prosecution, having received a contract to kill Politkovskaya from a person so far unidentified by the investigators, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev of Chechnya created a criminal group of six people, drawing in Pavlyuchenkov who determined Politkovskaya’s whereabouts and routes in July-September 2006 and reported this to other members of the criminal group. He also acquired arms and ammunition for them, which later were used to kill the journalist.
When collecting information about Politkovskaya, Pavlyuchenkov used his subordinates with professional undercover surveillance skills, keeping them unaware of his criminal intentions.
On October 7, 2006, the killer, carrying the gun given to him by Pavlyuchenkov, entered the hallway of section 2 at Lesnaya Street 8/12 in Moscow and fired the pistol at Politkovskaya five times when she entered the lift at about 16:00 Moscow time.
Other suspects include Gaitukayev, who was earlier sentenced to 12 years in prison for an assassination attempt against a Ukrainian entrepreneur; his nephews, Makhmudov brothers (one of them, Rustam, is believed to be the perpetrator in the Politkovskaya case); and a former officer of the central regional department for combating organised crime, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.
The Politkovskaya case has already been examined in court, with Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Khadzhikurbanov being the accomplices in the crime. In February 2009, the Moscow District Military Court pronounced them not guilty on the basis of the jury’s verdict, but the Supreme Court later cancelled that ruling and returned the case for a new investigation.