GROZNY, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said Thursday the jurors who had cleared two Interior Ministry officers of committing murder in Chechnya were biased.
"I am convinced that the jury was biased," Alkhanov said, citing "trial violations".
Earlier on Thursday, the jury of the North Caucasian military court in Rostov-on-Don found Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Khudyakov and Lieutenant Sergei Arakcheyev not guilty. They were accused of killing three employees of a construction firm in the Chechen capital Grozny in January 2003.
"According to the case records, the guilt of the defendants is proved and this is doubtless. But the jury ruled the prosecutors failed to present full evidence of their guilt," Alkhanov said, criticizing the selection of jurors.
Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov also said the not guilty verdict was wrong.
"I hope this court ruling will be cancelled by a superior court [sic]," he said.
