Russian Justice: A Complete Joke

Where is the Russian condemnation over the disgusting decision to let the "accomplices," responsible for the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, go free?

A Russian military court has acquitted three men accused of aiding the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006.

The court in Moscow handed down "not guilty" verdicts on ex-police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov.

A third brother, Rustam, is accused of the actual murder and remains at large.

The head of Russian journalists' union said he was "ashamed" by the verdicts. Prosecutors said they would appeal.

Ms Politkovskaya, who gained prominence by exposing human rights abuses by the Russian army in Chechnya, was shot in her apartment building in Moscow.
The brutal murder of the reporter, who worked for the small-circulation Novaya Gazeta newspaper, highlighted the risks run by journalists in Russia.

She was the 13th journalist to be killed in a contract-style killing in Russia during Vladimir Putin's period as president, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

While her death shocked the international community, correspondents say it did not register widely in Russia.