Russia: reporter murder trial opens

Several men have gone on trial in Moscow over the 2006 murder of campaigning journalist, and open critic of the Kremlin, Anna Politkovskaya. Four men have been charged with complicity in the plot, but it is not clear how many of them are being tried currently.

The trial was quickly denounced as a "farce" by supporters of Politkovskaya, who critcised the strong possibility that the entire trial may be held behind closed doors, and asked how a meaningful trial could not involve the man who fired the fatal shot, or those who ordered the execution.

The four men are Pavel Ryaguzov, an FSB agent, Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, a former policeman and two Chechen brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov.

Rustan Makhmudov, thought to have fired the fatal shot, remains at large, investigators say.