A former Moscow police officer convicted of killing a journalist nearly two decades ago has been pardoned in exchange for fighting in Ukraine.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014 for organizing the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. He cut his rap by offering a six-month contract for the Ukrainian war last year, his lawyer, Alexei Mikhalchik, told the RBC news channel.
“He was later pardoned and is now taking part in [the war in Ukraine] as a soldier has signed a [second] contract with the defense ministry,” explained Mikhalchik.
The same prisoner scheme was previously reported to be a favorite tactic of the Wagner Group, although it is unclear if Khadzhikurbanov joined the paramilitary unit, according to The Guardian.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing Anna Politkovskaya.REUTERS
Politkovskaya’s former employer, Noyava Gazeta, and her children, Ilya and Vera, issued a joint statement calling the pardon “gross injustice and arbitrariness, an outrage on the memory of a person who was killed for his conviction and the performance of his professional duties.”
“For us, this ‘forgiveness’ is not proof of the killer’s redemption and remorse,” the statement added, according to the BBC.
Politkovskaya – who attracted international attention for her outspoken coverage of Russian atrocities in Chechnya as well as her criticism of Vladimir Putin’s early regime – was 48 when she was gunned down outside her Moscow apartment.
Anna Politkovskaya was shot outside her apartment in Moscow in 2006. Fairfax Media via Getty Images
Khadzhikurbanov was brought down for the murder in 2014 along with four men from Chechnya.
Rustam Makhmudov received a life sentence for pulling the trigger, the BBC said, while his two brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim, were sentenced to 14 and 12 years respectively.
Makhmudov’s uncle, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, was also jailed for life for helping to organize the alleged attack.
Khadzhikurbanov took advantage of the military amnesty scheme last year.REUTERS
To this day, however, it is unclear who requested or instigated Politkovskaya’s murder.
The Russian military has reportedly recruited tens of thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine since the summer of 2022, The Guardian said.
Prisoners were allegedly promised that if they fought for six months on the front lines, they would be pardoned from the remainder of their sentences, the outlet explained.
People light candles next to a portrait of Anna Politkovskaya during a rally in St. Petersburg shortly after he was killed.REUTERS
Under Russian law, Putin must personally sign off on the pardon.
The policy has sparked controversy both in Russia and abroad, as critics worry that the scheme will allow dangerous criminals to wreak havoc on civilians.
Last week, Russian media claimed that Vladislav Kanyus – who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for raping and stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend in 2020 – had re-entered society after serving in Ukraine with the Wagner Group, Newsweek reported.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov (back) poses with a fellow suspect, Ibragim Makhmudov, who was sentenced to more than 10 years in a prison colony.AFP via Getty Images
“They paid with blood for crimes on the battlefield, in assault brigades, under bullets, under bullets,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told bewildered reporters about the decision to pardon Kanyus and other killers.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
