4 Acquitted in Russian Journalist's Murder

Supreme Court throws out acquittals in Politkovskaya case

(NEWSER) - Russia's Supreme Court has overturned the acquittals of three men in the murder of crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and ordered a retrial, reports the BBC. Prosecutors claimed that judicial irregularities and misinformation led to an improper verdict, and Politkovskaya's newspaper colleagues have accused the police of shoddy work. Despite international attention in the case, neither the actual triggerman nor those who ordered the killing have been found. More»

Suspicion of Anna Politkovskaya's killers leads to Chechnya

(NEWSER) - Russia's supreme court ordered a new investigation into the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the crusading journalist whose killers have not yet been found, reports the Guardian. The move received a cautious welcome from Politkovskaya's lawyer, who welcomed a new manhunt but said, "Whether the general prosecutor will use this opportunity, we don't know." A shambolic trial of four people accused in her death earlier this year ended in acquittals. More»

Chechen crime group, government officers implicated

(NEWSER) - Ten men were arrested today in the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya last October, the Guardian reports. A Chechen organized-crime boss led the group responsible for the slaying, Russian authorities say. Those arrested are said to include current and former officials in the interior ministry and the security service. More»

(NEWSER) - A human rights activist whose probes into abuse by authorities were a constant irritation to authorities has been kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya, the Wall Street Journal reports. Natalya Estemirova was found shot dead along a roadside hours after witnesses saw her being bundled into a car. Chechnya's president, pro-Russia strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, promised an investigation, but many believe Kadyrov himself is behind the murder. More»

Indictments for killing of journalist, but hit man still at large

(NEWSER) - Four men have been charged in Moscow in connection with the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative journalist shot dead outside her apartment in 2006. Authorities believe that her murder was linked to her exposés on human rights abuses in Chechnya. Two of the accused are Chechens, the Guardian reports—both brothers of the suspected hit man, who is still at large. More»