Media Head Who Sent Slain Russian Journalists to Central Africa Questioned

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Investigations Management Centre (TsUR) head Andrei Konyakhin has been questioned by the Russian Investigative Committee over the murder of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The questioning lasted for three hours, according to MBKh Media portal.

Russian nationals Orkhan Dzhemal, Kyrill Radchenko, and Alexander Rastorguev were killed in CAR on July 30. The committee opened a criminal investigation. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, preliminary information showed that robbery was the motive behind the armed attack.

READ MORE: Plane Carrying Bodies of Journalists Killed in CAR Lands in Moscow — Source

The killing of the three journalists has become a high-profile case both inside and outside Russia.

TsUR, an investigative media of Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, confirmed that it had sent the journalists to CAR to work on a documentary about mercenary forces allegedly active in the country.

CAR has recently been suffering from numerous internal conflicts. Between 2012 and 2014, the country faced a civil war involving the government, an alliance of rebel groups called Seleka, predominantly composed of Muslims, and Anti-Balaka militias, whose members were mostly Christians. The violence did not stop even after Seleka was dissolved in 2013.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the criminality level amid the turmoil in CAR was high and warned people visiting the country that they should not rely on help from local law enforcement, which was practically defunct.