23.02.09

The prosecution has come up with a new version of Novaya Gazeta newspaper observer Anna Politkovskaya's assassination, one of the defendants' lawyers, Andrei Trepykhalin, said.

"Today we heard yet another version of the investigation. According to it, the order for the assassination of Politkovskaya in June and July 2006 was received by Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, uncle of the Makhmudov brothers who are among the defendants.. But since he was arrested in August in a different case, he passed it on to Sergei Khadzhikurbanov," the lawyer said.

Another lawyer, Saidakhmet Arsamerzayev, said the prosecution claimed the motif for the assassination was discontent with Politkovskaya exposing articles.

He said these articles had been included in the criminal case which also named all persons who had been criticized by the journalist.

These include military officers, law enforcement officials, and regional leaders. "However none of them has been questioned," the lawyer said.

The gun from which Politkovskaya was killed had earlier been used in an assassination attempt against another person.

According to a statement in the case read out behind closed door by the defence, the gun was made in 1995 in Izhevsk as a gas gun and then was converted for bullets. It is not clear from the statement how the gun disappeared from the assassination attempt case.

One of the defendants, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, told journalists that the case included a court judgment regarding to persons from Dagestan who had purchased large amounts of arms and converted gas guns into combat guns.

"There were more than 10,000 guns," he said.

According to Khadzhikurbanov, the case also includes a testimony given by the person who bought the gun from which Politkovskaya was killed. "Information about him - his full name and telephone - is in the case. The gun disappeared in 2004," he said.

On Friday, the prosecution had finished the presentation of additional proof, giving the floor to the defence. The judge said earlier he would like to complete the court examination of the case on Friday.

Judge Yevgeny Zubov, who presides at the trial, said the next hearing was due on February 16.

Initially, the prosecution and the defense will say whether the suspects are guilty or not guilty. They will also evaluate the evidence produced to the court earlier. After that the court will formulate questions to the jury and the judge will remind the jurors about the circumstances of the crime.

Politkovskaya was gunned down on October 7, 2006 inside the entrance hall to the residential building in Moscow's Lesnaya Street, where she had been living.

Murder charges were brought against three men -- Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and the Makhmudov brothers - Dzhabrail and Ibragim. Khadzhikurbanov and Lieutenant-Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov have been charged with offences they committed together earlier. These offences fall into the categories of "abuse of occupational powers" and "extortion."

Charges against Rustam Makhmudov, the man whose shot killed Politkovskaya, have been separated into a special case as he has been placed on an international wanted list. Investigation of his offence still continues.

Ilya Politkovsky, the journalist's son aged 30, said he had not known the defendants before. He told the court he had often seen his mother, but that he mostly talked with her by phone. He last phoned her on October 7, the day of the murder.

He reminded that his mother had covered many themes, including the situation in Chechnya, and in the army; "all themes where investigations were needed."

According to Politkovskaya's son, the threats related to the journalist's reports, began to come in five years before the murder. "Publications often evoked a reaction from the authorities, and were made pretexts for opening criminal cases," Ilya said.

He said he did not know if any Politkovskaya's publications had hurt any of the defendants.

Vera Politkovskaya, the daughter of the murdered journalist, had lived with her mother during the last week before her death. "Usually, my mother shared her plans for the day, but she was not specific on the day of the murder," she said.

She also said she had learnt about the murder from her brother.

Politkovskaya had spent the last days before her murder mostly with her relatives. "She was trying to protect me in all ways, because I was four months gone with the child," the journalist's daughter said.

According to her, Politkovskaya said she had seen strangers in the house, who had not appeared there before.

Also, the journalist complained about house intercom problems in the last few days before the murder, saying it either broke down or let the door open without the key.

"There were many publications posing threat to my mother, she was aware of it, but made it look that I had to take more care," Vera Politkovskaya said.

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Source: Itar-Tass