Investigators downplayed on Thursday reports about female DNA on the gun used in the killing of famous reporter Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.
But a lawyer for the defense told RIA Novosti that investigators were trying to cover up for following a wrong lead that prompted them to detain the current main suspect, Chechen native Rustam Makhmudov.
“The DNA could belong to anyone who ever touched the gun or stood near it and, perhaps, sneezed when it was dismantled,” the Investigative Committee said on its web site.
The gun changed owners many times since 2004, the earliest date that its whereabouts were traced to, the committee added, without elaborating.
Media reports about the DNA are “an attempt to discredit the investigation and sway public opinion…and the potential jury members ahead of the trial,” the statement said.
Novaya Gazeta reporter Politkovskaya, known for her investigations into rights abuses in the North Caucasus, was shot in her apartment house in downtown Moscow.
Politkovskaya’s supporters alleged the high-profile killing was orchestrated by authorities she targeted in her reports, but no senior officials were formally implicated in the case. A trial of three alleged hitmen ended in acquittal in 2009.
Six men, including Makhmudov and three of his relatives, as well as two policemen, were named suspects during the new investigation, which is still ongoing. But last week, reports surfaced that a forensic check discovered female DNA on the gun left by the killer at the crime scene, but that investigators ignored the check’s findings during the first trial.
The Investigative Committee requested the DNA check, hoping it would prove Makhmudov’s involvement, and is now trying to downplay its results, said Makhmudov’s lawyer Murad Musayev.
“They’ve championed it as evidence, so now they only have themselves to blame,” Musayev said by telephone.
He also noted that sweat was one source of the DNA, which implies the woman was likely the one to maintain the gun, not just stand near it.
The most likely culprit in the case is ex-police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, one of the two cops charged in the case, and investigators need to look for the female suspect among his acquaintances and subordinates, Musayev said.
