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Russia high court sends Politkovskaya murder investigation back to prosecutors

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

[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the case of murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya should be returned to prosecutors for further investigation. The court overturned a lower court decision not to combine the case against Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and Ibragim Makhmudov with an investigation against other suspects, including Rustam Makhmudov, the brother of Dzhabrail and Ibragim, who is thought to be in hiding under an alias. Reporters Without Borders welcomed the court's decision, saying it offers "a degree of hope." Also Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld its decision to annul the acquittal of the three suspects. Their lawyer said he plans an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The Supreme Court ordered the retrial of the three suspects in June after prosecutors argued the trial judge made procedural errors. Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and Ibragim Makhmudov were acquitted in February after a jury found that the evidence against the three was not enough to support convictions. A week later, prosecutors appealed the acquittals. In November 2008, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office requested a new judge, claiming that Moscow Military District Court judge Yevgeny Zubov had violated procedural rules. Zubov refused to recuse himself from the trial. Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and Ibragim Makhmudov were arrested in August 2007 in connection with Politkovskaya's 2006 slaying.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 03, 2009 (boomark / email).