Four men on trial over murder of Russian journalist

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.

The four have been charged with helping organise the October 2006 shooting of Politovskaya at her apartment block in central Moscow.

In a victory for Politkovskaya’s lawyers who had feared the process could be held in secret, the judge of the military court ruled the trial should be held in open court.