As reported in the Moscow Times, the former head of a district in Chechnya has been charged as an accomplice in organizing the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Shamil Burayev, who was detained by police earlier this month in Moscow, was charged with complicity in murder as an accomplice by the Prosecutor General’s Office, defence lawyer Pyotr Kozakov said Friday. He gave no further details, but he later told Interfax that Burayev had maintained his innocence in the face of police interrogation.
Burayev was the head of Chechnya’s Achkoi-Martan district administration for eight years until 2003, when he was fired by then-Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov. He also ran for president of the republic.
Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has said the Oct. 7 murder of Politkovskaya was organized by a Chechen criminal group in Moscow that specialized in contract killings.
Chechnya’s ombudsman, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, cast doubt on reports of Burayev’s involvement, saying investigators were stacking their evidence to find a scapegoat from Chechnya.