On Monday, the court chose 12 main and two reserve jurors out of the 50 candidates who turned up in the court.
The jury will consider the case following the petition of one of the main accused - co-chairman of the Liberal Russia party Mikhail Kodanev. The investigation is accusing him of organizing a murder. After the board has been formed, the case will be considered in detail.
Six people will be on trial. Besides Kodanev, they will include his assistant on the Liberal Russia, Alexander Vinnik, and also Alexander Kulachinsky, Igor Kiselev, Vladislav Palkov and Anton Drozd. The latter three were earlier found guilty on other charges.
All the accused are facing charges of murder, attempts on the life of a state or a public figure, illegal acquisition, transferring and storage of weapons.
According to First Deputy Prosecutor General Yuri Biryukov, Kodanev and Vinnik were those who contracted the murder, while Kulachinsky perpetrated it. Kiselev directly contacted Kulachinsky, while Palkov and Drozd arranged the murder.
According to Biryukov, the murder was caused by discord inside the party, i.e. a conflict between two groups that were initially together. Each of the groups wanted to retain the name of Liberal Russia after the split.
Sergei Yushenkov was killed on April 17th, 2003 at the entrance to his house in the northwest of Moscow.
