DUSHANBE, March 29, Asia-Plus — Two suspects in the murder of Russian TV Channel One reporter Ilyas Shurpayev have been arrested in Tajikistan, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).
The source at a MoI said that the suspects were detained today morning. Officers from the Russian law enforcement agencies (one of them is from the Moscow criminal investigation directorate and the other one is from the main criminal investigation department of the Russian Interior Ministry) arrived in Dushanbe yesterday night, according to the source.
“Our Russian colleagues gave us pointers to find the suspects,” he said, noting the suspects are currently testifying. One of the suspects is resident of Khujand, Sughd province and the one is from Dushanbe.
However, the source refrained from giving the names of the suspects and the circumstances of their arrest. He just noted that the hunt for a third suspect is under way.
The source noted that as the suspects are Tajik nationals, they will not be extradited to Russia. “Under the Minsk Convention of 1992 they will not be extradited to Russia and the Tajik side will conduct the investigation,” the source said.
According to Russian media, Ilyas Shurpayev was killed in a rented apartment in Moscow on March 21. The killer set the apartment to fire, and the journalist’s body was found by firemen. He had a belt around his neck. The Moscow bureau of the Prosecutor General’s Office Investigation Committee opened the criminal case on the murder charges. Shurpayev was buried at a Muslim cemetery in his hometown of Makhachkala, Dagestan on March 25.
In the meantime, Russia RIA Novosti reported that the same day that Shurpayev”s body was found, Gadzhi Abashilov, the head of Dagestan”s state-run television station, was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire at his car. Investigators have linked Abashilov”s murder to his professional activities, but the motivation behind Shurpayev”s murder remains uncertain.
