MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - The personal belongings of the Russian journalists Kirill Radchenko, Orkhan Dzhemal, and Alexander Rastorguyev, who were killed in the Central African Republic a year ago, have been passed to the Investigative Committee, which is continuing the investigation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The investigation into the killing of the Russian journalists Kirill Radchenko, Orkhan Dzhemal, and Alexander Rastorguyev committed in the CAR a year ago is continuing. The Russian Investigative Committee is conducting it together with relevant Central African bodies," the ministry said in a statement.
The Investigative Committee's Main Investigations Directorate has sent a request for legal assistance to the CAR Ministry of Justice and Human Rights via diplomatic channels, including on facilitating the organization of investigative procedures in the country.
"The personal belongings of the deceased have been passed to the Russian Investigative Committee's possession. The Russian Foreign Ministry will continue to provide support to the Russian Investigative Committee in investigating this case within its purview," it said.
The Foreign Ministry said it still had some questions for the organizers of the journalists' trip to Central Africa; in particular, the CAR embassy in Moscow was misled regarding the true objective of that trip and therefore issued tourist visas to them, and they worked in the country without the proper accreditation and permission to bring in filming equipment and conduct the filming.
It was reported on July 31, 2018 that Russian reporter Dzhemal, documentary filmmaker Rastorguyev, and cameraman Radchenko had been killed in the CAR by unidentified assailants. The Russians were reportedly filming a documentary about private military companies in collaboration with the Investigation Control Center founded by former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on murder charges. UN representatives joined the investigation, as well.
The official investigation has up to this point concluded that the people responsible for killing the journalists in the CAR, who were black, first attempted to rob them but, after the journalists put up resistance, the assailants shot them.