Tue Nov 25, 11:12 AM ET

By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer
15 mins ago

MOSCOW – Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya saw suspicious strangers near her home in the weeks before she was killed, her daughter testified Thursday at the trial of three men accused of helping set up her shooting.

She and her brother also said their mother had been threatened many times.

Politkovskaya's critical reporting on Kremlin policy and human rights abuses in Chechnya embarrassed the Russian government. Her killing in 2006 increased Western concerns about the risks reporters take by investigating alleged wrongdoing by Russian authorities.

Politkovskaya was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building after returning from a supermarket on Oct. 7, 2006.

Her grown children — Vera Politkovskaya and Ilya Politkovsky — testified on Thursday for the first time in the trial. They have said the case is compromised by the fact that the alleged triggerman is not on trial, and the alleged mastermind has not been identified.

A defense lawyer said Tuesday that the indictment indicated a Russian politician had ordered the killing as revenge for critical reporting. Last year, Russia's chief prosecutor suggested somebody abroad had Politkovskaya killed to discredit the Kremlin.

Vera Politkovskaya told the court she had moved in with her mother a week before she was killed, and that her mother warned her to be "doubly cautious" because she had seen suspicious-looking people hanging around the building.

"She warned me that she had noticed strange people in the lobby whom she had not seen before," and was suspicious because the strangers "did not smell of alcohol," Vera Politkovskaya said. Homeless alcoholics in Russia are known to sometimes take refuge in the lobbies of apartment buildings.

Prosecutors told the jury that the defendants — former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov — had cased the building to prepare for the crime.

Prosecutors say Khadzhikurbanov organized the killing, while one of the brothers followed Politkovskaya on the day and the other served as a lookout near the building.

Prosecutors say the suspected killer — another Makhmudov brother, Rustam — has fled the country.

On Thursday they showed the jury printouts from security-camera footage showing a man in a dark baseball cap, the suspect, entering Politkovskaya's apartment building about 10 minutes before she walked in, and leaving 24 seconds after.

Prosecutors said Wednesday the attacker shot Politkovskaya five times, and that she died 10 minutes later.

Ilya Politkovsky told the jury at Moscow's main military court that he spoke with his mother that afternoon on her cell phone when she was paying for groceries, and told her he would meet her at her home to help carry the bags to her apartment.

He did not rush, thinking she would be stuck in Moscow's afternoon traffic, he said.

When he arrived, the doorway was cordoned off and ambulances were on the street. He was told the news, and called his sister.

"He said, 'Our mother has been killed,'" Vera Politkovskaya said.



Article: HERE

 

Tue Nov 25, 11:15 AM ET

Defence lawyer Murad Musayev said the murder of outspoken journalist Anna Politkovskaya was ordered by a Russian politician based inside the country in revenge for critical articles.

(AFP/DDP/File/Jens Schlueter)

                                

Tue Nov 25, 11:13 AM ET

Murad Musayev -- a defence lawyer for one of the four men charged in connection with the murder with Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya -- answers questions outside a courthouse in Moscow.

(AFP/Alexey Sazonov)

                                                                          

Tue Nov 25, 11:15 AM ET

Suspects in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial sit in the defendents' cage in a Moscow courtroom. A defence lawyer has said the murder of the outspoken journalist was ordered by a Russian politician in revenge for critical articles.

(AFP/File/Alexey Sazonov)

                                                                             

Mon Nov 17, 9:13 AM ET

Suspects in the 2006 slaying of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, sit in court in Moscow, Monday Nov.17, 2008, before the court ordered that they must stand trial in open court, for their alleged involvement in the killing. Seen behind bars are the accused, from left, Pavel Ryguzov, Sergei khadzhikurbanov, Ibragim Makhmudov and Dhzabrail Makhmudov, while Said Arsanezayev, lawyer of Ibragim Makhmudov, front left, and Murad Musayev, lawyer of Dzhabrai Makhmudov, front center, look through papers. The suspects being tried on murder charges are former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, and Makhmudov brothers, Ibragim and Dzhabrail. Prosecutors say the man accused of pulling the trigger, Rustam Makhmudov, has fled the country. Others unidentified.

(AP Photo/ Sergey Ponomarev)

 

Wed Nov 19, 5:24 AM ET

A man holds a portrait of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya during a gathering on occasion of her birthday in Moscow in this August 30, 2007 file photo.

REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

                                      

Mon Nov 17, 6:14 AM ET

A picture of slain Russian journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya at a candlelight vigil in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington, October 2006. The trial opened Monday of four men charged over the 2006 murder of Politkovskaya, despite the absence of the masterminds of the killing.

(AFP/Getty Images/File/Mark Wilson)

                                                          

Sun Nov 16, 12:33 AM ET

File picture shows people laying flowers outside the house where Anna Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow. A trial into the killing of the Russian journalist opens on Monday in a military court in Moscow, with the Kremlin critic's supporters fearing it will shed little light on the case

(AFP/File/Dmitry Kostyukov)