Russia: Juror Disputes Judge’s Statement on Media

"The jury in the trial of three men accused in the killing of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya did not demand that journalists be barred from the proceedings, as a judge said a day earlier in closing the trial, a juror said Thursday. Instead, a court secretary had produced a petition requesting that journalists be barred on the grounds that the jury was frightened and had asked members to sign it, the juror, Yevgeny Kolesov, told Ekho Moskvy, an independent radio station. “Nobody signed this statement,” Mr. Kolesov said. He said the jurors had asked for the removal only of television crews and photographers. Ms. Politkovskaya, a Kremlin critic, was gunned down in October 2006. A spokesman for the court could not comment on Mr. Kolesov’s allegations. The decision to close the proceedings angered Ms. Politkovskaya’s supporters, who called it politically motivated." - The New York Times