MOSCOW, June 20 (RAPSI) - The prosecutors have dropped arms trafficking charges against two suspects in the Anna Politkovskaya murder case, which is being heard in the Moscow City Court, their lawyer told RAPSI.

"The prosecutors believe there is no evidence that Ibragim Makhmudov and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov were involved in arms trafficking," Anna Stavitskaya said.

She added that the prosecutor said they had withdrawn some of the charges because they want the case to be considered objectively. 

The judge will now be obliged to remove the charges from the case materials.

Regarding the other charges, the prosecutors believe the investigation has collected sufficient evidence to prove the defendants' guilt.

Novaya Gazeta newspaper journalist Politkovskaya was shot and killed in her apartment building on October 7, 2006. Her murder has been linked by some experts to her coverage of human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The five suspects include former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Rustam, Ibragim, and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev. 

A sixth suspect, former police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who earlier signed a plea bargain, gave evidence against his accomplices and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2012.

The investigators believe that Rustam Makhmudov committed the murder with the help of his brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle and Khadzhikurbanov.