A Russian jury on Wednesday began hearing the case against five men suspected over the murder of anti-Kremlin reporter Anna Politkovskaya, despite a boycott of the trial by her children and their lawyers.
Judge Pavel Melekhin of the Moscow City Court declined to postpone the trial as requested by Politkovskaya’s two children, who had warned the court that they would not be available to attend proceedings this week.
“The presence of the injured party is highly desirable if not required,” defence lawyer Murad Musayev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
“We categorically oppose the continuation of the hearing” without them, he added.
Politkovskaya’s children have also complained that as the injured party their legal rights have been violated because they were not consulted over the composition of the jury.
The judge nevertheless chose to proceed with the case, which has dragged on for seven years after Politkovskaya was shot dead in 2006 in a killing linked to her reporting in the North Caucasus.