Keith Gessen Blog

Politkovskaya retrial

Some people have asked me about the Russian Supreme Court’s decision to cancel the verdict in the Politkovskaya murder case. I’ve been surprised by the interest this has generated in the West, as in Russia the Supreme Court decision was entirely—and depressingly—expected. A large proportion of jury acquittals get overturned in higher courts, despite the fact that jury trials in Russia are a great deal fairer than bench trials. In this case, with the political pressure for a guilty verdict, a refusal to annul the decision would have been progress; instead it’s business as usual. So don’t believe the hype.