JURIST - Paper Chase: Ten arrested in death of Russia journalist

[JURIST] Russian law enforcement officials have arrested 10 people in last October's killing [JURIST report] of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive], Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika [official website, in Russian] announced Monday. Chaika also indicated that the death was spearheaded by someone outside of Russia. Russian news agencies reported that the arrests include a Chechen crime boss and Russian police and security officers, as well as some individuals allegedly involved in the 2004 death of Forbes Russia editor Paul Klebnikov [Economist obituary] and the 2006 death of Russian Central Bank deputy chief Andrei Kozlov [BBC obituary]. Chaika announced that the ten suspects will be charged shortly, but has declined to identify those arrested. On Friday, a Moscow court approved the arrests of eight suspects.

Politkovskaya, who had covered the crisis in Chechnya [BBC Q&A] for Novaya Gazeta [media website, in Russian] since 1999, was shot in the head and in the chest after returning to her Moscow apartment building last year. Politkovskaya was a well known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and authored two books on Chechnya. Immediately following Politkovskaya's death, Putin suggested that the murder was an outside plot to damage Putin's reputation. AP has more. RIA Novosti has local coverage.

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