Russia judge closes journalist murder trial due to jury fears News
Russia judge closes journalist murder trial due to jury fears

[JURIST] A judge for the Moscow District Military Court on Wednesday ordered that the trial of three men accused in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary] be closed to the public. This essentially reversed [RIA Novosti report] his Monday decision [JURIST report] to allow an open trial. Also on Wednesday, all of the accused pleaded not guilty [RIA Novosti report] to the charges. The decision to reverse Monday's ruling came after members of the jury refused to enter the court room citing fear of being negatively targeted with all the media attention generated by the case.

Sergey Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov, all from Chechnya, were arrested [JURIST report] in August 2007. The main suspect, Rustam Makhmudov, also from Chechnya, has yet to be captured, but Russian authorities have said he is hiding in Western Europe. Closed preliminary hearings in the case began [JURIST report] last month. Politkovskaya, a reporter for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta [official website], was murdered [JURIST report] after returning to her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.

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UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.