ST. PETERSBURG, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - A St. Petersburg jury handed down a not-guilty verdict Tuesday for four men accused of killing a Congolese national.
Andrei Gerasimov, Yury Gromov, Andrei Olenev, and Dmitry Orlov were released from custody in the courtroom.
Rolan Epossaca, a 29-year old student at the St. Petersburg Forestry Academy, was killed last September. The victim was violently beaten and stabbed at least seven times.
The four men were charged with racially motivated murder. The public prosecutor had asked the jury to find the defendants guilty on all counts.
The city prosecutor's office said it would appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court.
"I consider the verdict unjust. We will certainly challenge it. One of the grounds for our appeal will be that the defense violated procedural rules," public prosecutor Dmitry Mazurov said.
