MOSCOW, February 7 (RAPSI) - One of the accused in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, stated during the hearings that he was not anywhere near the slain journalist's house the day of the killing, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.
According to the investigation, Dzhabrail Makhmudov drove the killer, allegedly his own brother Rustam, to the building where Anna Politkovskaya lived. Cellphone connection records put Makhmudov within the area, and the detalisation of the calls confirm he was around her building for more than an hour and a half.
Makhmudov denied his involvement, and said that cellphone billing data isn't exact in terms of pinpointing location, and the area he could've beentraversing is rather large. "I could've come there by subway, met somebody, maybe i was just passing through nearby," Makhmoudov said.
On Monday, a security tape from the building was shown to the jurors. According to the videotape, the offender has entered the stairwell minutes before Politkovskaya and went out immediately after the murder. The record showes that the killer came there three times including the day of the murder.
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. The investigators believe that Rustam Makhmudov committed the murder with the help of his brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle, and Khadzhikurbanov.