Politkovskaya murder hunt reopens
Anna Politkovskya was a vocal critic of the Russian authorities
A Russian judge has ordered a new investigation into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, following the acquittal of three men.
On Thursday, a military court in Moscow acquitted the men, who were accused of aiding the murder in October 2006.
Ms Politkovskaya, famous for exposing human rights abuses by the Russian army and its allies in Chechnya, was shot in her apartment building in Moscow.
Judge Yevgeniy Zubov has now sent the case back to Russian state prosecutors.
The military court's jury acquitted ex-police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov.
A third brother, Rustam, is accused of the actual murder and remains at large.
 | FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE  |
The brutal killing of the reporter, who worked for the small-circulation Novaya Gazeta newspaper, highlighted the risks run by journalists in Russia.
She was the 13th journalist to be killed in a contract-style killing in Russia during Vladimir Putin's period as president, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
A former FSB (Federal Security Service) agent, Pavel Ryaguzov, was also acquitted by the jury of an extortion charge relating to the case.
A spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors media freedom in Europe, said after the verdict that Russia's failure to solve the murder of Ms Politkovskaya amounted to a "human rights crisis".
He said those on trial had not been the masterminds, or even the actual killers.
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