Five people have been found guilty by a Moscow court of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, which took place in 2006. Two of them have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Rustam Makhmudov was convicted for firing the weapon, while his uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev is considered the organiser. Sentences of up to 20 years were handed down to the other three defendants, found to be accomplices: Dzhabrail Makhmudov (14 years) and his brother Ibragim (12 years), together with Sergei Khadzhikurbanov (20 years), a former Moscow police officer.

Politkovskaya's family has been awarded damages of 5 million roubles, approximately 100,000 euros.

Dmitri Pavliutchenkov, a former police officer, had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour in an earlier trial after confessing to having organised the surveillance of the journalist.

The deputy editor of Novaja Gazeta, the newspaper for which Politkovskaya worked, Sergej Sokolov, said that the investigation must continue until the person who ordered the murder is found.

Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead on 7 October 2006 in Moscow as she was returning home. Since 2001 she had covered the conflict in Chechnya, harshly criticising the policy of violent repression pursued by the Russian government.