Former cop arrested for organizing killing

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MOSCOW, July 16 (UPI) -- Russian authorities pressed charges against a former Moscow policeman Monday for allegedly organizing the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.

The former policeman, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov pleaded guilty to having given Politkovskaya's address and providing weapons to the killers, the Russian Investigative Committee said on its Web site.

Pavlyuchenkov faces a possible 20 years to life in prison for his role in Politkovskaya's death, but cooperating with investigators, who are still attempting to find who contracted the killing, could result in a reduced sentence, RIA Novosti reported.

The committee's report did not name the hit's contractor, but said it had a suspect in mind who may have wanted revenge against Politkovskaya for her scathing exposes in the Novaya Gazeta about the Kremlin and the North Caucasus authorities about rights abuses, RIA Novosti reported.