Anna Politkovskaya’s murderers given life sentences

A Moscow court has given life sentences for two men who killed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.

They were among five men convicted of the crime last month.

Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative reporter and vocal critic of Russia’s war in Chechnya, was shot in a lift in her block of flats.

Three of the men had earlier been acquitted but Russia’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial. Investigators have not determined who ordered the killing.

Rustam Makhmudov was given a life sentence for pulling the trigger.

His uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, one of those found guilty of organizing the murder, was also jailed for life.

The three others convicted of the killing – two of whom are Rustam Makhmudov’s brothers – were given between 12 and 20 years in prison.

The prosecution had pushed for tougher sentences.

Anna Politkovskaya’s reporting for Novaya Gazeta newspaper won international renown for her dogged investigation of Russian abuses in Chechnya.

But her pieces, which were highly critical of President Vladimir Putin, then serving his second term, and the Chechen leadership, angered many in authority.

Last year a former police officer, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for supplying the murder weapon.

Anna Politkovskaya’s family say they will continue to campaign until the person who ordered the killing is uncovered.

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