A suspect in the contract killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya on Friday denied the murder charges brought against him, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.
“Lom-Ali Gaitukayev has been accused of the contract killing of Anna Politkovskaya by an organized group in connection with her professional activities… He has not admited his guilt,” the Investigation Committee said in a statement.
Gaitukayev is currently serving a lengthy jail term for attempted murder in an unrelated case.
Politkovskaya was a staunch critic of the war in Chechnya and of then President Vladimir Putin. A 48-year-old mother of two, she was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment block in October 2006.