Russian justice officials said Tuesday that the suspected murderer of journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya is in Western Europe, reported dpa.
"We even know the country in which he is residing," said the chief investigator of the Russian state prosecutor's office, Alexander Bastrykin, on Thursday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. However, he did not name the country.
Bastrykin added that justice officials in Belgium, France and Switzerland were also asked for help in apprehending the suspect, Chechen Rustam Makhmudov.
Citing investigators, the Moscow radio broadcaster Echo Moskwy reported that the suspect was in Belgium. This was neither denied nor confirmed by Russian justice officials.
The state prosecutor general two weeks ago ceased investigation into the October 2006 shooting murder of Politkovskaya. Three men were charged with the murder. The main suspect Makhmudov was announced as under investigation in mid-May.
In mid-2007, the state secretary general announced the "cracking" of the murder case and named Chechens and "enemies of the state abroad" as the assailants. One of the investigators claimed that London-based exile oligarch Boris Beresovski was involved in Politkovskaya's death.
At the same time, there is still speculation within Russia that the true culprits are in the Kremlin.