A court in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia sentenced a police officer on Friday to two years in prison for killing a journalist in 2008.
Journalist Magomed Yevloyev, who ran a website critical of local authorities, was shot in the head while in a police vehicle in August 2008 after being arrested at Ingushetia's Magas airport. He died later in hospital. Police claimed the officer's gun had gone off "accidentally."
"He was shot straight in the temple," said Magomed Khazbiyev, Yevloyev's official representative, said immediately after the shooting.
Police officer Ibragim Yevloyev, who is not related to the late journalist, was convicted on accidental homicide charges.
Opposition groups and his family insist Yevloyev's death was politically motivated.
Widespread media speculation after the killing said that before his arrest and subsequent death the journalist had been involved in a mid-air dispute with then Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, who was travelling on the same plane as Yevloyev.
His death triggered mass protests in the volatile North Caucasus republic, with police firing warning shots to disperse demonstrators.
KARABULAK, December 11 (RIA Novosti)
