Former Russian MP charged with Peyia triple murder

RUSSIAN police have charged 52-year-old former State Duma Deputy Mikhail Glushchenko with masterminding the triple murders of three Russian nationals in Peyia in 2004. As the murders took place outside of Russia, Cyprus police said that an extradition request will be made so that the suspect can appear before a Cypriot court.

Glushchenko, who has been living outside Russia since 2007, was arrested at St Petersburg on Tuesday when he appeared at a local police station to pick up his renewed Russian passport.

Authorities initially announced that Glusenko was being arrested on suspicion of involvement in a blackmail case, but later confirmed that he was charged with involvement in the murders of businessman Yury Zorin, translator Viktoria Tretyakova and fellow former LDPR Deputy Vyacheslav Shevchenko.

The murders took place on March 24, 2004 at the villa in Ayios Georgios Peyias, where the three Russians lived. The violent crime in the quiet village took the nation by surprise.

The bodies of the three victims were dismembered with an axe and were found wrapped in plastic bags in the two bedrooms and bathroom of the villa. Cypriot police at the time suspected that the Russian mafia was behind the murders, as they appeared to be the work of professionals. In addition to the bodies found in plastic bags, police had found pieces of furniture from the house in plastic bags scattered throughout the villa.

Glushchenko was an MP at the Russian Duma between 1995-1999 with the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky. According to the Russian press, Glushchenko has also been implicated n the 1998 murder of popular Russian MP and human rights advocate Galina Starovoytova. The female MP was murdered outside her St Petersburg house in a case that remains unsolved.

Meanwhile, Cypriot Police has announced that in co-operation with Interpol they will request that the suspect is extradited to Cyprus, on account of the crime having taken place in the Republic and the victims having been permanent residents on the island.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.