Russian High Court Overturns Acquittals in Politically Charged Case of Slain Journalist
Russia’s Supreme Court today ordered a new trial for two Chechen brothers and a former police officer who were acquitted on charges they helped in the assassination of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
The Los Angeles Times notes that the court’s order and retrial will “open a fresh chapter in a politically freighted mystery that has painted a chilling picture of bungled police work, a faltering judicial system and public indifference in Russia.”
The ABA Journal reports on the Politkovskaya case and the one involving the murder of her lawyer Stanislav Markelov in this month’s cover story, “Russia Claws at the Rule of Law.”
Politkovskaya, a reporter for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was gunned down in 2006 at the elevator of her Moscow apartment. While the three low-level suspects were eventually tried, investigators have yet to arrest anyone for killing Politkovskaya or ordering her death.
Politkovskaya was reviled by authorities because of her relentless pursuit of official corruption and reporting on human rights abuses, the Times notes.
In its report on the high court ruling, the New York Times notes that the defendants were ordered tried on the same charges in the same military court in Moscow, a victory for prosecutors who had appealed for a second chance. They argued for a retrial based on procedural violations by the judges and defense lawyers during the first trial. But the Times notes that others were critical of the prosecution’s handling of the jury trial, which is relatively new in Russia.
Karina Moskalenko, a lawyer for Politkovskaya’s family, told the L.A. Times that only the prosecutors will benefit from the high court decision. Politkovskaya’s family, she said, would have preferred to see the investigation continue until there was enough evidence to bring the key perpetrators to justice.
