Rally for murdered Russian writer

A fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, she was shot dead in her Moscow apartment block on 7 October last year.

Hundreds rallied in Moscow on Sunday calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.

Although Ms Politkovskaya's killing drew international condemnation, the case remains unsolved.

Family members and colleagues gathered for a private graveside remembrance of the reporter.

Friends and rights activists joined members of the opposition "Other Russia" movement for a rally in Pushkin Square.

There was a heavy police presence.

Elsewhere in the Russian capital several thousand members of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi, held a separate demonstration to celebrate Mr Putin's 55th birthday.

Slow investigation

Ms Politkovskaya, a reporter for the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, won fame by exposing atrocities against Chechen civilians by Russian-backed security forces.

After her contract-style killing, there were demands for those responsible to be brought to justice as quickly as possible.

The outcry included allegations that Mr Putin was failing to protect freedom of speech.

It was 10 months before any arrests were made in the case, even though there was closed circuit TV footage of the man alleged to be her killer.

Among those detained were members of the security forces including the domestic intelligence agency, the FSB.

Two have already been released and the top investigator on the case has been replaced.

In the year since Ms Politkovskaya's death at least two more Russian journalists have died in suspicious circumstances and another was shot and injured, says the BBC's Moscow correspondent Richard Galpin.

The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says 18 journalists have been killed in connection with their work in Russia since Mr Putin became president in March 2000.

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