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Russia prosecutors appeal acquittal of Politkovskaya murder suspects

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Russia's Prosecutor General's Office on Friday appealed the acquittal of three Chechen men accused of involvement in the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The decision to appeal the ruling was reportedly made shortly after Moscow Military Court judge Yevgeny Zubov referred the case back to the office last week. The defendants' acquittal came a day after a jury found that the evidence presented against Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov was insufficient to convict them for the crime. Prosecutor Vera Pashkovskaya said the appeal was based on trial violations of the Russian code of criminal procedure, which may have inappropriately influenced jurors. Politskovkaya, who gained recognition for her investigative reports on torture in Chechnya, was murdered in her Moscow apartment building in 2006. The killing has been described by police as a contract killing in which the three men are accused of playing minor roles. A lawyer for one of the accused alleged just before the acquittal that prosecutors had fabricated evidence and pointed to other irregularities in the evidence, including a lost DVD with security camera footage and claims of other prosecutorial misconduct. Since the trial began in October, judge Yevgeniy Zubov has closed and then opened the proceedings to the public three times, citing juror security concerns and the presentation of classified information. After last week's jury finding, Amnesty International urged Russian authorities to continue the investigation of Politkovskaya's killing.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 27, 2009 (boomark / email).