MOSCOW, August 14 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court on Wednesday refused to dismiss one of the attorneys representing the defendants in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial, RAPSI reports from the court.

The prosecution based the motion on the fact that in 2007 attorney Aleksei Mihalchik was a witness during the search of his client, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov's apartment. The search was not a part of the Politkovskaya case; rather it was part of an investigation in abuse of office charges, for which Khadzhikurbanov was later acquitted, Mihalchik explained.

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.