More than 10 federal judges and members of the Investigative Committee have requested police protection since Monday's brazen killing of Moscow City Court judge Eduard Chuvashov, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
Chuvashov was gunned down in his apartment building's entryway on his way to work Monday morning, the first killing of a federal judge in six years. Investigators have said the attack was most likely revenge for his tough verdicts in trials involving ultranationalists.
He also participated in an ongoing corruption case against senior Federal Drug Control Service officer Alexander Bulbov.
Moscow City Court spokeswoman Anna Usachyova said Tuesday that Chuvashov had not contacted law enforcement officials about any threats, Interfax reported.
Investigators have discovered fingerprints, cigarette butts, a trace of a shoe sole and hairs at the scene of Chuvashov's murder, a law enforcement source told Interfax on Tuesday. A second source told the news agency that the evidence, plus video footage of the attacker, should be enough to establish his identity.
On Monday evening, President Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram to Moscow City Court chairwoman Olga Yegorova promising her that "everything necessary will be done so that the organizers and perpetrators of this cynical murder are found and brought to justice."
Usachyova told RIA-Novosti that a memorial ceremony would be held at the court Wednesday, after which Chuvashov will be buried at the city's Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.
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