Convict for killing Politkovskaya back at large after taking part in SMO

Sergey Khadjikurbanov, who was sentenced to 20 years in penal colony in 2014 for his involvement in the murder of the journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, has been released before term after taking part in hostilities in Ukraine, his former advocate has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that October 7, 2023, marked the 17th anniversary of Politkovskaya's murder. The figurants, Lom-Ali Gaitukaev and Rustam Makhmudov, were sentenced to life imprisonment; the Makhmudov brothers, Ibragim and Djabrail, received 12 and 14 years of freedom deprivation, respectively, and Khadjikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in colony.

At the end of 2022, Khadjikurbanov went to the special military operation (SMO) zone and was in command of the reconnaissance platoon and then – of the battalion. Six months later, he received a release certificate, but extended his contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and stayed in the SMO zone, the RBC writes, citing Alexei Mikhalchik, an advocate.

"He has served in Special Forces in the 1990s; he has experience, therefore, probably, he was immediately appointed to a command position. I think, in a sense, justice has triumphed, since I believe that he was not involved in Politkovskaya's murder," the RBC quotes Mr Mikhalchik as saying.

Let us also remind you that on July 17, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declared the investigation into Anna Politkovskaya's murder as inefficient and obliged Russian authorities to pay EUR 20,000 in compensation to Anna's relatives, since the customer of the murder was not identified. On October 5 of the same year, Dunja Mijatović, the Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, called on Russia to find the customer of the murder.

Let us remind you that Politkovskaya gave her last interview to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent an hour and a half before her murder, while commenting on Ramzan Kadyrov's career prospects.