Investigators charged former police colonel Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov on Friday with organizing the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Investigative Committee said.
Investigators discovered Pavlyuchenkov was paid in late July 2006 to mastermind Politkovskaya’s murder, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Pavlyuchenkov organized a gang to kill the journalist, bought the murder weapon, organized the plan, and delegated duties amongst the gang members.
Politkovskaya, well-known for her investigative journalism on human rights violations in Chechnya, was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in Moscow, on October 7, 2006.
Investigators believe she was killed because of her journalistic activities.