Word: verdict
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...Verdict: Skim...
...into the crusading journalist's shooting would continue and, they hoped, would finally catch the real culprits: the person who ordered the assassination and the person who pulled the trigger. But on Thursday, Russia's Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and ordered a retrial, sparking fears that a guilty verdict the second time around will end the search for Politkovskaya's killers...
...ruling, the Supreme Court said there were numerous procedural violations in the previous trial, and an improper bias against the defendants, which necessitated a retrial on the same charges in the same court. (By citing procedural violations, the Supreme Court renders the first verdict void, and so sidesteps the issue of double jeopardy which states a person can't be tried for the same crime twice.) Politkovskaya's family and lawyers oppose a retrial, saying a guilty verdict for the alleged accomplices could end the investigation and allow those directly responsible for the murder to remain free. Meanwhile, journalists...
...There is no basis for the verdict to be overturned," Anna Stavitskaya, the lawyer for Politkovskaya's son and daughter, told the judges, according to Russian media. "We are more interested in the mastermind and the killer," said Sergei Sokolov, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper for which Politkovskaya worked, speaking to Ekho Moskvy, an independent radio station. "It's obvious that today's ruling was based on a political decision - not on a procedural one. For the authorities, the most important thing was simply to make sure someone goes to prison...
...Verdict: Skim...