Retired policeman arrested in connection with murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya

August 26, 2011

Retired Russian police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov has been detained in Moscow, accused of involvement in journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s death. A former Police Lieutenant Colonel, he has been accused of planning Politkovskaya’s murder, hiring a hitman and supplying them with the weapon that killed her. Pavlyuchenkov was a witness in the murder trial.

Pavlyuchenkov was also a former chief of the fourth division of the Moscow City Police Operational Search Department. He is suspected of hiring someone to kill Politkovskaya while still serving as a Police Officer.

Politkovskaya was killed after returning to her Moscow apartment building from a grocery store on October 7, 2006. She was an investigative journalist, who was critical of the and Chechen authorities. Her death received international attention. Her work for Novaya Gazeta, an oppositional newspaper in Russia, won her international awards.

In May, Rustam Makhmudov was arrested as suspected gunman, but later acquitted. His two brothers and a retired police officer were put on trial in 2009 for the murder but were acquitted due to lack of evidence. They were accused of playing a minor role in the murder.

This arrest does not name or address who killed Politkovskaya.