Paul Klebnikov, the U.S.-born editor of Forbes’s Russian edition, was shot dead in Moscow in July 2004. A Russian man has been arrested in connection with his death
Russia’s Interior Ministry says Ukrainian authorities acting on its request have detained a man accused of involvement in the high-profile murder of an American journalist in Russia 13 years ago.
Paul Klebnikov, the U.S.-born editor of Forbes magazine’s Russian edition, was gunned down outside his Moscow office in July 2004.
Ukraine’s security agency said Saturday it has detained a Russian man wanted for Klebnikov’s slaying.
It did not name him, but the Russian Interior Ministry identified the suspect Monday as Magomed Dukuzov, according to the Interfax news agency.
Russian prosecutors alleged that several Chechens killed Klebnikov on behalf of Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, a Chechen warlord who was the subject of Klebnikov’s book ‘Conversations With a Barbarian’.
Nukhayev was allegedly angry about his portrayal in the book, which was based on an interview Klebnikov had with him.
Multiple suspects have been investigated in connection with Klebnikov’s death. The journalist was investigating a potential corruption scandal involving Chechnya and the Kremlin at the time of his death. Pictured is a view of his funeral in July 2004
Russian officials have officially alleged that Klebnikov was killed by operatives of Chechen warlord Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev (pictured in a grab from a 1999 film about him called The Making of An Empire)
Outlets have speculated that the killing was connected to the 41-year-old’s work investigating corruption in Russia and the country’s shadowy and sometimes violent business world.
Forbes reported that at the time of his death, Klebnikov was believed to have been investigating a complex web of money laundering involving a Chechen reconstruction fund and the Kremlin.
There were two Dukuzov brothers among the suspects.
Three people were charged with the journalist’s murder in 2006 and later acquitted.
A higher court ordered a retrial for the main suspect, but he absconded before the proceedings could be held.
Klebnikov’s family said after the 2006 acquittals they were distressed that his killers remained at large.
Musa Vakhaev, a previous suspect accused in the murder, is pictured speaking to journalists in March 2007, after he was released on the condition that he remain in Russia