Politkovskaya trial should be re-opened

In response to news reports that a juror in Anna Politkovskaya’s murder trial disputed the Moscow District Court’s claim that the jury had asked for the closure of proceedings to the press, we issued the following statement…

“The Moscow District Military Court’s should immediately re-open the trial of three suspects in the killing of our colleague Anna Politkovskaya and allow the press back in the courtroom,” CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “The trial should not have been closed to the public in the first place. We commend the jury for speaking up and we call on Russian authorities to investigate who stands behind the illegitimate decision to ban the press from covering this important trial.”