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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Politkovskaya case to be retried | Politkovskaya case to be retried |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Russia's Supreme Court has overturned the acquittal of three men accused of involvement in the 2006 killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. | Russia's Supreme Court has overturned the acquittal of three men accused of involvement in the 2006 killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. |
| The court ordered that the three men face a retrial. | The court ordered that the three men face a retrial. |
| Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov were acquitted in February after a trial that critics said was farcical. | Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov were acquitted in February after a trial that critics said was farcical. |
| Politkovskaya was a staunch critic of the Kremlin and her supporters allege official involvement in her death. | Politkovskaya was a staunch critic of the Kremlin and her supporters allege official involvement in her death. |
| The Kremlin has dismissed such claims. | The Kremlin has dismissed such claims. |
| Suspect at large | |
| The Supreme Court decision came after prosecutors appealed against the not guilty verdicts handed down by a Moscow court. | The Supreme Court decision came after prosecutors appealed against the not guilty verdicts handed down by a Moscow court. |
| The process of the trial was strongly criticised by Russian journalists and human rights groups. | The process of the trial was strongly criticised by Russian journalists and human rights groups. |
| Even so, Politkovskaya's supporters have always said that even guilty verdicts would not have been satisfactory. | Even so, Politkovskaya's supporters have always said that even guilty verdicts would not have been satisfactory. |
| Two Chechen brothers were among three men acquitted in the trial | |
| None of the three was accused of being the actual killer. | None of the three was accused of being the actual killer. |
| The suspected gunman, Rustam Makhmudov - brother of two of the other suspects - has still not been caught. And campaigners say it is those who ordered the killing that they really want to see in the dock. | The suspected gunman, Rustam Makhmudov - brother of two of the other suspects - has still not been caught. And campaigners say it is those who ordered the killing that they really want to see in the dock. |
| Politkovskaya, who gained prominence by exposing human rights abuses by the Russian army in Chechnya, was shot dead in the entrance hall of her apartment building in Moscow in 2006. | |
| The Supreme Court ordered the retrial to take place at the same military court in Moscow where the first trial was held. | |
| A lawyer for the defendants described the decision as "political" and said he would contest it in the European Court of Human Rights. | |
| Meanwhile the lawyer representing Anna Politskovskaya's family also denounced the Supreme Court's ruling, saying they had not been seeking to overturn the acquittal. | |
| The family had agreed that the prosecution had failed to put together a convincing case against the three men. |