REPORTS: RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT THROWS OUT ACQUITTAL IN ARMENIAN’S KILLING
Kyiv Post, Ukraine
Sept 25 2007
MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a jury’s
acquittal of a man tried for the killing of an Armenian teenager,
Russian news agencies reported.
Artur Sardarian, 19, was fatally stabbed in the neck and chest in May
2006 by two young men who approached him on a regional commuter train
near Moscow. A lawyer for his relatives said the attackers yelled
"Glory to Russia!" and "Long live Russia!"
In June, a Moscow Region Court jury found the suspect innocent of
murder. Prosecutors and relatives of the victim appealed, leading to
the ruling by the Supreme Court, which ordered a new trial.
Russia has seen a surge in racism and hate crimes in recent years,
with a series of attacks on nonwhite or dark-skinned residents,
foreigners and Jews.