( RIA Novosti ) - The Moscow City Court has remanded in custody Dzhabrail Makhmudov, 25, suspected of murdering investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
The court turned down an appeal from Makhmudov's lawyers, who had alleged that their client's arrest was illegal.
Makhmudov, who was taken into custody on August 17, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"I consider the crime particularly filthy, as a crime against a woman and a journalist who risked her life protecting human rights in my motherland," the defendant told the court.
Protesting against Makhmudov's arrest, lawyer Murad Musayev referred to a number of violations in the procedure. The lawyer also said that Makhmudov held two higher education diplomas, and "has never been prosecuted."
However, prosecutor Vyacheslav Smirnov asked the court to leave its verdict intact. He said the defendant had neither a job, nor residency registration in Moscow. The latter is a legal requirement for any extended stay by non-Muscovites in the capital of Russia.
The prosecutor said that nine people were currently facing charges in connection with Politkovskaya's murder, including Makhmudov's two brothers.
Politkovskaya, who gained international recognition for her strong criticism of the Kremlin and claims of state-backed atrocities against civilians in Chechnya, was gunned down in the entryway of her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.
The latest reports said charges had also been brought against Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov, from the Moscow department of the Federal Security Service.
"Ryaguzov is accused of passing on details of Politkovskaya's address" to Shamil Burayev, a former leader of a Chechen district, a source close to the investigation said.
Ryaguzov, who was initially arrested on August 21, is also facing charges of abuse of office, abduction and illegal entry - offenses that he allegedly committed in 2002.