Sentenced to 2006 years in prison for his role in the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 14, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, a former police officer, has been granted a presidential pardon for joining Russian forces in Ukraine, his lawyer told AFP on Tuesday (November <>th).

The death of the journalist, who was shot dead in Moscow on 7 October 2006 – the Russian president's birthday – was one of the most high-profile murders of the Putin era, which has been in power in Russia since 2000 and has seen many of his critics murdered.

Alexei Mikhalchik, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov's lawyer, told AFP that his client had joined Russian forces engaged in Ukraine in 2022, which earned him a presidential pardon. "He was offered a contract to participate. He did so and when the contract ended he was pardoned by decree of the president," the lawyer said, adding that his client's family had informed him of this.

"This is a monstrous arbitrary injustice, a desecration of the memory of a person killed for his convictions and the fulfilment of his professional duty," Politkovskaya's family and Novaya Gazeta, her former employer, said in a statement.

The pardon granted by Vladimir Putin is in no way "proof of the murderer's atonement and remorse," they continued.

Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), slammed the Russian president's "cynicism" on X (formerly Twitter).

Vladimir Putin has just pardoned an accomplice in the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya (killed in 2006). The reason? Sergei Khadzhikurbanov joined Russian forces in #Ukraine. The usual cynicism of the head of the #Kremlin. pic.twitter.com/6YIlSD4Idv

— Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) November 14, 2023

According to the lawyer, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was supposed to serve his sentence until 2030, but the authorities offered him a contract because of his experience in a Russian special forces unit.

Alexei Mikhalchik had initially revealed the information to the Russian media Baza and RBK.

"Atoning for his crimes"

Tens of thousands of Russian detainees have signed such contracts with paramilitary formations such as the Wagner Group.

These men often served in the most dangerous sectors of the front and, by the late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin's own admission, were used as cannon fodder. But the survivors regained their freedom.

This policy is publicly endorsed by the Kremlin. "Those convicted, including for serious crimes, atone for their crime with blood on the battlefield," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Sergei Khadzhikurbanov is still serving on the Ukrainian front, according to his counsel.

"In 2023, he signed a new contract as a volunteer and is now fighting in command positions," continued the lawyer, who says he is "convinced of the innocence" of his client in the Politkovskaya case.

Anna Politkovskaya, a world-renowned investigative journalist who specialises in the crimes committed by the authorities in Chechnya and is a critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in the lobby of her apartment building in Moscow.

The masterminds of the crime have never been identified, although many opponents of the Kremlin and the regime it has installed in Chechnya consider Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of the Caucasus region, to be the main suspect. He has always denied this.

Serial Assassinations

It took several trials, acquittals, and then convictions for the perpetrators of the assassination to be convicted. Among them is Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.

The logistical organizer of the assassination, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, died in prison in 2017. Her nephew, Rustam Makhmudov, was convicted of shooting the journalist and is serving a life sentence.

Anna Politkovskaya, who worked for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, is one of many prominent critics of Vladimir Putin's Russia who have been murdered without the crimes ever being solved.

Other victims included opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, journalist Paul Klebnikov, human rights activist Natalia Estemirova and lawyer Stanislav Markelov.

The Kremlin's top critic, Alexei Navalny, survived a poisoning in 2020 and is serving a lengthy prison sentence. A condemnation that the person concerned and the West describe as political.

After its offensive against Ukraine, Russia launched a vast campaign of repression of all voices, famous or anonymous, denouncing its responsibility in this conflict.

With AFP

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