Date: 17.04.2003
Domestic/International: Relation: Type of event: Details: State Duma Deputy and co-Chairman of the Liberal Russia party Sergei Yushenkov was shot dead outside his Moscow home on 17 April in an apparent contract murder, Russian and Western media reported. A pistol with a silencer was found next to Yushenkov's body, RFE/RL's Moscow bureau reported. Moscow Prosecutor Mikhail Avdyukhov and Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin told journalists at the scene of the killing that Yushenkov was "the victim of a professional killer" and that the slaying is "most likely linked with his activity as a [Duma] deputy," ORT and RTR reported on 17 April. Avdyukov said on 18 April on RTR that a criminal case has been opened and that he is not yet aware of any conflicts that might have led to Yushenkov's killing. He added that the possibility of an economic motive has not been eliminated. Other investigators told ORT that Yushenkov was not involved in economic legislation in the Duma and had no particular business interests. President Vladimir Putin met with Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov on 17 April and asked him to take charge of the investigation. Putin called Yushenkov "a defender of freedom." Commenting on the slaying, a number of Yushenkov's colleagues -- including Liberal Russia co-Chairman and fellow legislator Viktor Pokhmelkin, Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) Deputy Sergei Kovalev, Deputy Yulii Rybakov (independent) and Deputy Nikolai Travkin (SPS) -- all suggested the killing was politically motivated. Pokhmelkin suggested Yushenkov was killed in an attempt to bring the liberal opposition to its knees, while Rybakov emphasized Yushenkov's efforts to find evidence to support allegations that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was involved in the apartment-building bombings that killed some 300 people in 1999, according to the "The Moscow Times." According to "Izvestiya," Yushenkov frequently talked with reporters in the Duma about the bombings and would say, "It's all obvious, but no one will write about it." Duma Speaker Gennadii Seleznev said he has "no doubts that [Yushenkov's] killing was political" and called for a special team of investigators to look into the slaying, RTR and other Russian media reported on 18 April. Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov said he is concerned that the "new election cycle is beginning with the murder of a prominent Duma deputy." Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii said he "is absolutely certain about the political nature of the killing." Noting that the slaying came on the eve of the election campaign and of President Putin's annual address to parliament, Yavlinskii said the killing shows that criminal elements are playing a prominent role not only in the economy, but in society and politics as well. SPS leader Boris Nemtsov also expressed his certainty that the slaying was political and that Yushenkov was "a purely honest" person who had no business dealings. People's Deputy faction head Gennadii Raikov called Yushenkov a "principled man" who was killed "because he was inconvenient for somebody." Duma Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dmitrii Rogozin (People's Deputy) said that although he was on the opposite side of many political issues from Yushenkov, he always respected him as "a man of principles." Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov called the killing "the revelry of banditry with a political flavor." He said that eight legislators have been murdered in the last 10 years and almost none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice.
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