RUSSIA: Suspects charged over the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya

The defence lawyer for one of four men charged in connection with the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya said on Tuesday (August 28) his client had been physically abused in police custody and that the prosecution case was nothing more than a catalogue of popular opinion. Murad Musayev said the men all lived in Moscow and were all in a state of shock. "They do not understand why it's happened" he said. Musayev was speaking at radio Ekho Moskvy where he condemned the police methods of interrogation in the case of three brothers arrested, one of whom is his client. "They were put in separate rooms, all three brothers, " he said and suspects the police were attempting to pressure them into confessing. "Such methods are common during investigations in Russia" he said. Musayev criticised the case outlined by Russia's Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika on Monday (August 27), saying, "his speech reminded me of a hurried collage of ideas. Because he went through a catalogue of current popular opinion on this case - Chechens; an oligarch from the past; some powerful and scary figure sitting abroad and plotting against Russia; and of course, corrupt policemen were added as well, 'werewolves' as they are called nowadays." The lawyer said that by referring to the cases of two other murders, American reporter Paul Khlebnikov and Andrei Kozlov, Deputy Head of Russia's Central Bank, Chaika had confused the issue. A spokesman at the prosecutors' office refused to comment on whether any of the ten suspects had been charged, saying a formal statement might be issued later on Tuesday.

ITN Source | August 29, 2007

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