The individual responsible for organizing the murder of a Russian journalist has been granted a pardon after agreeing to serve in the conflict in Ukraine.

Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, a former Russian detective convicted for his involvement in the 2006 murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, has been granted a pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin. This pardon came after Khadzhikurbanov joined the military to fight in Ukraine, as conveyed by his attorney, Alexey Mikhalchik, to the state media outlet TASS.

Khadzhikurbanov was originally sentenced to a 20-year prison term for his part in orchestrating the assassination of Politkovskaya, a well-known columnist for Novaya Gazeta and a vocal critic of the Kremlin. Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow on October 7, 2006, coincidentally Putin’s birthday.

According to Mikhalchik, Khadzhikurbanov agreed to a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, which led to his presidential pardon. Following the fulfillment of his initial military contract, he continued his service and now holds a leadership role in a combat unit under a new contract.

Khadzhikurbanov, who worked as a Moscow police officer before his conviction in 2014, maintained his innocence throughout the trial. However, a spokesperson for Novaya Gazeta affirmed to CNN on Monday that his complicity in Politkovskaya’s murder is beyond doubt. Before his pardon, Khadzhikurbanov was not set to be released until 2034.

The editorial board of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and relatives of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya jointly expressed strong disapproval on Tuesday regarding the release of Sergey Khadzhikurbanov. Their statement criticized the state’s handling of the law, suggesting it was being manipulated for its own purposes. “The government no longer upholds the law but instead twists it to fit its own distorted interpretation. It imposes 25-year sentences for beliefs while freeing murderers who are useful to the state,” the statement said.

The statement further emphasized that Khadzhikurbanov’s pardon is not seen as an indication of his remorse or redemption. Instead, it is viewed as a blatant act of injustice and an affront to the memory of Politkovskaya, who was killed for her convictions and dedication to her journalistic duty.

The statement also highlighted Russia’s ongoing practice of enlisting former prisoners as combatants in its effort to strengthen its military forces in Ukraine. This recruitment comes as the conflict, now extending beyond 20 months, continues to be a protracted and demanding engagement.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the infamous leader of the private military firm Wagner, initiated a recruitment drive aimed at enlisting between 40,000 to 50,000 prisoners from Russian jails within the first year of the conflict.

In June, Prigozhin spearheaded a failed uprising, mobilizing his Wagner forces to advance towards Moscow from near the Ukraine border, covering a vast distance of nearly 1,000 kilometers in a single day. However, he suddenly ordered his forces to halt their advance. Two months after his failed insurrection, Prigozhin met his end in an enigmatic plane crash in August.

Last Friday, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, during a press briefing, affirmed that Russia’s policy of recruiting and pardoning inmates continued. He stated that convicts could earn pardons for “serious crimes” by paying for them “with blood” on the battlefield.

Peskov explained that former inmates have the opportunity to redeem themselves “on the battlefield, in assault brigades, amidst gunfire and artillery bombardment,” while addressing the press about another instance where a former convicted murderer received a pardon from Putin.