11 August 2009, 23:50
Estemirova's evidences on Politkovskaya's murder could have changed the course of investigation
The assassinated Chechen human rights defender Natalia Estemirova gave evidences, which could help inspectors to reach the customers and change the course of investigation into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. However, she was never summoned to the court.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 5 the litigation on Anna Politkovskaya's murder case continued.
The "Life.ru" writes that Natalia Estemirova was one of the first witnesses interrogated under Anna Politkovskaya's murder case.
An inspector of the then investigatory group of the State Office of Public Prosecutor interrogated Estemirova a week after Politkovskaya's murder in the office of the "Novaya Gazeta" and recorded her evidence in the protocol.
According to the newspaper, the fact that in the course of the first litigation on the case of Politkovskaya's murder Estemirova was never invited to speak to the court as a witness, had to do with the fact that the prisoner's dock contained the people, who were in any way outside Natalia's version.
The paper reports that in recent years, Estemirova was holding her own independent investigation into the case of Politkovskaya's murder. Her data could have thrown light on a number of questions, which the investigation had faced; for example, on the degree of involvement in the murder of the OMON fighters, sent to Chechnya from different regions of the country, who were suspected of kidnappings.