A Moscow City Court judged dismissed the jury in the murder trial of five men who have been suspected of involvement with the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Three of the suspects failed to turn up for a hearing Thursday.
Two jury members were asked to "be released from their duties due to poor health and a third on a ccount of a business trip... a fourth member, who had been serving as a jury foreman, was released from his duties Tuesday [also] due to a business trip," according to The Moscow Times.
Last week, a prosecutor also announced that one jury member had been convicted of murder, news reports said.
Russia's Investigative Committee revealed last week that two criminal cases were launched against Murad Musayev, the defendants' lawyer, RFE-RL also reported. Musayev is officially suspected of obstructing justice and attempting to bribe witnesses in a separate case.
On October 7, 2006, Politkovskaya was shot dead in the lobby of her Moscow apartment. To this day, her murder remains shrouded in mystery as to who were responsible for her assassination and who ordered it.
Politkovskaya's murder underscored the stifling of dissent within Putin's Russia, in a society that has shown disdain for critical voices.
