The Russian-backed Chechen leader accused of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova today promised to lead an investigation into the killing.

A JURY acquitted three men yesterday of playing minor roles in the murder of an investigative journalist whose killing underlined the risks that Kremlin critics can face in Russia. The main suspects in the case remained at large.

Three men were cleared of murdering Russian investigative journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya today in an embarrassing defeat for state prosecutors.

A MOSCOW court reversed its earlier decision and barred the public and media from the trial of three men accused of murdering investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya after jurors complained press coverage could put them at risk.

FOUR men went on trial yesterday in connection with the murder of Russian journalist and outspoken Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya, despite the failure of the authorities to catch the masterminds.

A Russian lawyer has said she suspects she and her family were poisoned by mercury found in her car, keeping her away from the start of the trial of three men accused in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

A top Russian prosecutor today said the killer of journalist Anna Politkovskaya is hiding in Western Europe.

Three men have been charged in connection with the assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

IT IS a year today since the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

At least one Briton was among five human rights activists detained in Russia trying to attend a conference commemorating murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

A Russian investigative journalist shot dead last year, a Sudanese human rights lawyer and two prominent Chinese human rights activists have been shortlisted for the European Union's human rights award for 2007, officials said today.

RUSSIAN prosecutors said yesterday they had detained 10 suspects in the murder of reporter Anna Politkovskaya, but that the killing was masterminded from abroad by anti-Kremlin forces trying to discredit Russia.

Russia today announced that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the killing of journalist and outspoken Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya, including police officers and a Chechen crime boss accused of organising the murder.

Ten people have been arrested over the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and will be charged soon, Russian news agencies quoted the chief prosecutor as saying today.

Russian authorities have detained two suspects over the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, it was claimed today, although her newspaper dismissed the report as “absolutely wrong".

Actor Johnny Depp is to produce a film about Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who was poisoned in London as he investigated the assassination of a Moscow journalist, Variety has reported.

RELATIONS between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin came under strain yesterday when a leading British Cabinet minister criticised the Russian leader’s “huge attacks” on liberty and democracy.

A Russian man who met with Alexander Litvinenko on the day that the former KGB spy believed he was poisoned today said he had been questioned by British officials in Moscow, and again denied any involvement in his death.

Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist whose death Alexander Litvinenko was investigating when he was apparently poisoned, was a tireless investigative reporter.

INVESTIGATORS are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Russian investigators are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, it was today reported.

Anna Politkovskaya’s newspaper today published an unfinished article on torture in Chechnya that the journalist had been working on when she was killed.

Russian investigators continue to probe the brazen daylight killing of star investigative journalist and fierce government critic Anna Politkovskaya, singling out her work as the most likely motive for the killing, news reports said.

Russia’s top prosecutor today took charge of investigating the murder of a journalist who was a prominent critic of the war in Chechnya and planned to publish a story about torture and abductions in the region.

A prominent Russian journalist famous for her critical coverage of the war in Chechnya was killed today in Moscow, police and prosecutors said.