Russian Ex-Lawmaker Charged With Masterminding Starovoitova Murder

Jailed former Russian lawmaker Mikhail Glushchenko

Jailed former Russian lawmaker Mikhail Glushchenko has been charged with masterminding the 1998 murder of State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova.

Glushchenko's lawyer, Aleksandr Afanasiyev, told journalists after his client was charged on November 8 that the charge contained procedural flaws, since it does not say who ordered the assassination.

Starovoitova, the co-chairwoman of Democratic Russia and a well-known reformist politician and minority rights activist, was shot dead in the lobby of her apartment building in St. Petersburg in November 1998.

In June 2005, one man was sentenced to 20 years in jail for masterminding the killing while another received 23 1/2 years for pulling the trigger.

At least three others remain on the international most-wanted list in connection with Starovoitova's murder.

Glushchenko was sentenced to eight years in jail in March for extortion.


Based on reporting by RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS