19 November 2008, 13:28
Anna Politkovskaya's case will be considered behind closed doors
The process on the murder case of the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya will be held in the closed regime. The court had to make this decision after the jurymen refused to appear in the courtroom in the presence of the press, although no threats against them ever arrived.
The judge has reminded that according to the law the hearings cannot be held in the open regime, if there is a threat to the safety of the participants of the litigation.
The defence and advocates of Politkovskaya's family have voiced against a closed trial. Karina Moskalenko, one of the family's advocates, has stated that the fear of jurymen shall not be the basis for closing the process; there is no such provision in the criminally-remedial legislation, the RIA "Novosti" reports.
"I think this is a great shame," the "Interfax" quotes the editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta" Dmitri Muratov. "The first court sitting was attended by Russian Ombudsman, and the judges didn't dare to do this, now, they've found the way to close the trial in order to hide special agents, who are met in plenty in the Politkovskaya's murder case."
