Russia
Official may have helped murder suspect fleePosted Apr 18 2009
A woman in Chechnya’s Federal Migration Service is being prosecuted for allegedly issuing a fake passport to the suspected murderer of political journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Reuters reported March 12.
According to the prosecutor-general’s office, Milana Mezhiyeva issued accused gunman Rustam Makhmudov a passport using the name of a person who died eight years ago. Officials said she sold the passport to him on Dec. 9, 2007, which enabled Makhmudov to flee the country.
“She made out a passport in someone else's name, and instead of issuing it to that person, stuck in the photograph of this individual, who is on the run from investigators,” said Konstantin Poltoranin, a spokesman for the Federal Migration Service. “For this she received a payment of $100.”
Politkovskaya, a reporter for the anti-government newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was murdered in her apartment building in October 2006. In February, three men accused of aiding Makhmudov in the murder were acquitted. An international arrest warrant has been issued for Makhmudov.
More information
- Reporters Without Borders
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- The Los Angeles Times