The state prosecutor in the high-profile case of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has requested the Moscow City Court sentence her convicted killer, Rustam Makhmudov, to life in prison.

      Novaya Gazeta newspaper journalist Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment building on October 7, 2006. Her murder has been linked by some experts to her coverage of human rights abuses in Chechnya.

      Last week, the court found four other defendants in the protracted trial – former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Rustam's brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev – guilty of helping to plan the murder. The defense team said it would appeal the verdict.

      The five men were charged with the murder and acquitted in 2009. The Supreme Court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial.

      Politkovskaya's colleagues countinue blaming the prosecutor's department for avoiding talks about the potential crime's customer. Many journalists believe it could be one of the strongest officials in the Chechen Republic.