The latest trial starts with greater pomp and looks as if it will be open. So "Novyye izvestia" columnist Zoya Svetova asks what will happen if the public realizes just how flimsy the charges are.
Jurors last week acquitted three men who were charged with involvement in the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. But does this mean that they are innocent? No. And could the jury have returned a different verdict? Yes, if the jurors had been different. The unanimity of this acquittal can be explained not just by the lack of evidence against the accused but by the specifics of jury trials in Russia.
Stas was a victim of a frightening hunt, an open season that was declared several years ago. So the main question that needs to be answered now is: "Who declared this open season?"
