New Politkovskaya trial ordered for August after acquittal rejection

The fresh preliminary hearings were ordered after Russia's supreme court annulled a Moscow district military court acquittal handed to three men who had been put on trial over Politkovskaya's murder.

Rights groups and the slain journalist's family have condemned the retrial, instead calling for an entirely new investigation into the journalist's murder.

The Politkovskaya family lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, has said she would demand in the upcoming preliminary hearings that the case be returned to prosecutors so that a new investigation could be carried out.