Suspects acquitted of journalist’s murder

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.

The unanimous not-guilty verdicts ended a three-month trial regarding the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose probing reports on atrocities in Chechnya and abuses by Russian authorities angered the government.

The trial was marred from the start by the absence of the suspected gunman and any alleged mastermind behind the politically charged October 2006 killing. Prosecutors vowed to appeal.