DUSHANBE, April 9, Asia-Plus  -- The Tajik Prosecutor General''s Office has charged two Tajik nationals with the murder of the Russian TV reporter, Ilyas Shurpayev, the first Deputy Prosecutor General, Abdusami Dadoboyev, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

"Masrurjon Yatimov and Najmiddin Muhiddinov have been charged under the provisions of Article 104, Pat 2 of the Penal Code of Tajikistan [premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances]," the deputy prosecutor said .

The accused are now in a pretrial detention facility.

Shurpayev, a reporter from Russia''s volatile North Caucasus republic of Daghestan who worked for Russia''s state-run Channel One TV station, was found stabbed and strangled in his rented Moscow apartment on March 21.

The Tajik Interior Ministry has rejected suggestions that Shurpayev''s murder was related to his professional activities, saying instead that it was the result of a simple robbery gone wrong.

Masrurjon Yatimov, 24, and Najmiddin Muhiddinov, 20, said they had not planned to kill Shurpayev, but they had been forced to do so after the Russian journalist resisted their attempts to rob him.

A third man, Muhiddinov''s brother, was also arrested by Tajik authorities.  Although he did not participate in the murder, he is believed to have known about it and may now be charged with failure to report a serious crime.