Moscow: A Russian human rights lawyer said she and her family have been poisoned by a suspicious substance found in her car, making her too ill to attend today's opening day in the trial of three men accused of slaying journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Human rights and media groups described the incident as an apparent attempt to intimidate Karinna Moskalenko, a lawyer who has represented Kremlin foes including chess champion Garry Kasparov.

Moskalenko told Ekho Moskvy radio on Tuesday that she and her children have had headaches, dizziness and nausea over the past few days. She also said her husband found a significant amount of a mercury-like substance in their car Sunday in Strasbourg, France.

She said she had been hospitalised for testing and that doctors had given her and other family members a preliminary diagnosis of poisoning.

Moskalenko could not immediately be reached for comment today. She told Ekho Moskvy it may have been an attempt to frighten her, and did not rule out a connection to the Politkovskaya murder trial.

Politkovskaya, whose reports on human rights abuses in Russia and especially Chechnya embarrassed the Kremlin and its allies, was shot to death in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.

This is the first trial held in connection with the journalist s killing. It has already been marred by the absence of the suspected trigger man, who prosecutors say has fled to Western Europe, and the lack of an answer to the crucial question of who was behind the killing.
Source : PTI