10 suspects held in probe into murder of reporter

RUSSIAN prosecutors said yesterday they had detained 10 suspects in the murder of reporter Anna Politkovskaya, but that the killing was masterminded from abroad by anti-Kremlin forces trying to discredit Russia.

Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika told reporters a probe showed Politkovskaya had been killed by an organised crime group led by an ethnic Chechen and including at least five serving and former law enforcement officers. The contract-style shooting last year of Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, led to a storm of international condemnation, with critics saying the Kremlin was failing to protect freedom of speech.

Prosecutors had said her killing was probably linked to her reporting. She had been active in exposing abuses by security forces in Russia’s turbulent Chechnya and neighbouring regions.