Politkovskaya murder suspect held in Chechnya

A man suspected of being the assassin who murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 has reportedly been arrested in Chechnya.

Rustam Makhmudov was taken into custody late on Monday, according to sources in the troubled Caucasian province.

The suspect is the brother of Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov, who were charged with involvement in the killing along with ex-policeman Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.

All three were acquitted following a jury trial in 2009, but Russia’s supreme court has quashed the verdict and ordered a new trial following complaints.

Rustam Makhmudov was named as the suspected gunman and had been on the run until now.

Ms Politkovskaya, 48, was found dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment block in October 2006. She had been shot four times at point-blank range.

The death of a journalist who had angered the Kremlin by producing articles that were fiercely critical of Kremlin policy, particularly in relation to the war against insurgents in Chechnya, shocked Russia.

Her case is one of 19 unsolved murders of reporters in the country since 2000, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.