Moscow cop gets 11 years for helping kill journalist

A Moscow judge has sentenced a former police officer to 11 years in prison and fined him 3 million rubles (about $100,000) for his part in the 2006 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who prosecutors claimed helped to track Politkovskaya's movements and provided the triggerman with a gun, had struck a plea bargain that qualified him for a reduced sentence in exchange for his co-operation.

Politkovskaya's family opposed the deal, which allowed Pavlyuchenkov to admit his guilt without testifying, on the grounds that it would not help find the masterminds of the killing.

The alleged triggerman and four other defendants will be tried separately.

Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of Kremlin policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in her apartment building on Oct. 7, 2006.