MOSCOW, August 26 - RAPSI. Investigators are set to arraign retired police Lt. Col. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, to charge him with organizing the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, investigator Dmitry Maimusov told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Friday.

"We will file charges against him soon," he said, although probably not as soon as this weekend.

According to Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, investigators discovered that in late July 2006 Pavlyuchenkov was paid to mastermind Politkovskayas murder. He organized a gang that included, among others, the three Makhmudov brothers. He bought the weapon, organized the plan, and delegated duties amongst the gang members.

Politkovskaya, well-known for her investigative journalism on human rights offenses in Chechnya, was killed in the elevator of her building on Lesnaya Street in Moscow, on October 7, 2006. Investigators believe her journalistic activities prompted her murder.