Russian foreign ministry and Chechen police deny reports that investigation of Politkovskaya’s murder advanced

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On January 23, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied information that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office “instituted criminal proceedings against several officials in Chechnya who can stay behind murder of Anna Politkovskaya,” a statement made by the foreign ministry’s Information and Press Department. The information “does not reflect the reality,” the ministry says. On Politkovskaya’s murder, “the Prosecutor General’s Office is working on several versions, including the one connected with her professional activity,” runs the statement.

“To check assumptions set out in Politkovskaya’s known article, the Chechen prosecution started its own investigation,” the ministry informs.

A press release by the Chechen Interior Ministry says: "Media reports about possible involvement of Chechen police officers in Anna Politkovskaya’s murder are at least unsound and baseless. Officers of the Chechen interior ministry have nothing to do with Politkovskaya’s murder. Information that criminal proceedings were instituted against “several police officers” is absolutely ungrounded.

“The Chechen interior ministry does not have any, even indirect information that some of the officers could be involved in the crime. In this connection, the Chechen interior ministry asks reporters to be more considerate and avoid distributing information that was not proved and that can cast shadow upon Chechen police officers.”

Earlier, Russian media reported that Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists Joel Simon said at a news conference earlier today citing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office that investigates murder of Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya instituted criminal proceedings against officers of Chechen interior ministry.

Anna Politkovskaya was killed on October 7, 2006, at an apartment block in central Moscow where she rented a flat. Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika announced recently that the investigation will be finished with the same success as investigation of Russian Central Bank deputy chief Andrei Kozlov’s murder was.