Relatives were neglected

The children of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in October 2006, refused to participate in the trial for the murder of their mother. A statement by Vera and Ilya Politkovsky published on the Novaya Gazeta website says:

“Today, July 23, judge of the Moscow City Court Melekhin refused to satisfy our legal request to postpone the court hearing to next week. The court was notified in advance and in writing with the relevant documents attached that the entire party of victims would not be able to participate in the hearing. However, in the absence of us and our lawyers, the judge began jury selection and confirmed the jury. Thus, the court violated our legal rights. Judge Melekhin scheduled the first hearing on the merits for tomorrow, July 24, knowing that we would not be able to attend it.

We waited almost 7 years for the killers to be in the dock, and the state did not bother to wait a few days.

Tomorrow, at 10.30, a deliberately illegitimate trial will begin in the Moscow City Court: we did not select a jury, we were deprived of the right to submit the necessary petitions - we were simply deleted from the list of interested parties.

We, the injured party, refuse to participate in such a process. We also call on the jury to do the same: dear gentlemen, they are trying to drag you into an unworthy process in which you will not be able to fulfill your civic duty. We urge you to recuse yourself.

We refuse to come to court, refuse to give any testimony, and also refuse to recognize any actions of Judge Melekhin as legitimate in the consideration of this criminal case.”