DUSHANBE, June 6, Asia-Plus — Case of two Tajik nationals charged with killing of a TV Channel One reporter Ilyas Shurpayev will probably move to court in late June, according to the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
The source at the prosecutor-general’s office said that they had already received all case materials from Russia. “Investigation into the case will be finished soon and the case will move to court,” the source said, adding that the case will probably move to court at the end of this month.
We will recall that two Tajik nationals – Masrurjon Yatimov and Najmiddin Muhiddinov – were detained on March 29 on suspicion of having killed a Russian journalist.
The two men allegedly killed Russian television journalist Ilyas Shurpayev, who was found strangled in his Moscow apartment. Russian firefighters discovered the body of Shurpayev on March 21 when they arrived to extinguish a fire in his apartment that had apparently been set by the killers in an attempt to cover up their crime. Shurpayev had moved to Moscow from Daghestan, where he worked as a reporter for the Russia”s Channel One television. The men reportedly tortured Shurpayev before killing him during the night of March 20-21 and stole some 100,000 rubles ($4,260) from him. Later, Tajik police arrested a third suspect in the killing, Muhiddinov”s brother.
On April 8, 2008, the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office yesterday announced formal charges against Masrurjon Yatimov, 24, and Najmiddin Muhiddinov, 20. They are charged under the provisions of two articles of the Penal Code of Tajikistan – Article 104, Part 2 (murder) and Article 249 (robbery).
