Public and media barred from murder trial

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.

The decision was a blow for relatives and groups who hoped that public scrutiny would yield new information about the killing.

Politkovskaya embarrassed the Kremlin and then-President Vladimir Putin with her reporting on human rights abuses in Chechnya. Her execution-style murder in her Moscow apartment building in 2006 sparked international outrage and renewed fears about the safety of journalists in Russia.