ST. PETERSBURG -- Former Russian State Duma Deputy Mikhail Glushchenko has been charged with organizing the murders of three Russian citizens in Cyprus in 2004 and with extortion, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Glushchenko is charged in connection with the killings of former Duma Deputy Vyacheslav Shevchenko, State Polar Academy official Yury Zorin, and their translator, Viktoria Tretyakova.
In July 2004, two suspects on trial for the 1998 murder of Duma Deputy Galina Starovoitova testified that Glushchenko had organized that murder.
Glushchenko, who was arrested in St. Petersburg on June 16, has not been charged in connection with the still-unsolved Starovoitova killing.