Two Chechens Acquitted in 2004 Slaying of U.S. Journalist

A jury Friday acquitted two ethnic Chechens accused of being contract hit men in the 2004 killing of U.S. investigative journalist Paul Klebnikov.

The men, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev, greeted supporters outside the Moscow courtroom and left in waiting cars.

Klebnikov, who was editor of Forbes magazine’s newly launched Russian edition, was shot from a car one night as he walked home from work. Fellow journalist Alexander Gordeyev, who reached him as he lay bleeding on the sidewalk, said Klebnikov had told him the gunman looked Russian.

Many observers had been skeptical of the government’s case. Prosecutors argued that the defendants had carried out a contract killing ordered by Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, a Chechen businessman and alleged organized crime figure about whom Klebnikov had written a critical book. Nukhayev’s whereabouts is unknown.

The verdict was hailed by some as a step forward for impartial justice and democracy in Russia.

“Frankly, I didn’t expect an acquittal,” said Lyomi Umarov, attorney for Dukuzov. “The crucial error of the prosecution was that from the very beginning they chose just one version -- the Chechen version -- and tailored the whole case to fit that version, ignoring huge discrepancies in their evidence, which we regularly pointed out to the jury.”

The trial was closed to journalists and other observers at the request of prosecutors, who said it was necessary to protect the confidentiality of methods used to gather evidence.

A third defendant, Moscow notary public Fail Sadretdinov, accused of being in a criminal gang with the other two men, was also acquitted and released.

Critics argued that it was more likely Klebnikov was killed by someone worried about what he might write in the future. Many observers suggested that the attack could have been related to his critical reporting on rich Russians or his investigation of corruption in Russian business and government.

“We urge the Russian government to continue its investigation with renewed vigor,” Klebnikov’s family said in a statement released in Washington. “We will not be satisfied until justice is served and the individual or individuals who ordered Paul’s killing and carried out the crime are found and brought to trial.”

In Russia, not-guilty verdicts can be appealed, and Umarov said he believed the prosecution was preparing to do so.

“The struggle is not completely over,” he said.

The defendants’ families, however, were rejoicing. They said the acquittals were a hopeful sign that at least some Russians were willing to treat Chechens fairly. Many Chechens say they feel widespread discrimination and are frequently viewed as criminals and terrorist suspects, in part because of the separatist violence in Chechnya.

“I didn’t think a Chechen had a chance of a fair trial, especially in Moscow,” Dukuzov’s brother Akhmed said by cellphone as he headed to a Moscow restaurant to celebrate. “This verdict will give a lot of confidence to the entire Chechen people.”

Musa Vakhayev’s wife, Marina Dzhimayeva, said in a telephone interview from Grozny, the Chechen capital, that all evening her house and yard were filled with people who came to express their joy.

“Relatives, friends and people I don’t even know came to celebrate,” she said. “It’s like a big holiday, not only in our yard, but in the rest of Grozny. Everybody’s talking only about it .... It is a great day for us.”

Oleg Panfilov, director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, a Russian group that advocates media freedom, said the verdict was “a very big setback for the authorities.”

“They wanted to declare this case solved and out of the way,” he said. “They wanted to once again show to the public in Russia and the world that Chechens are bandits and murderers, which was supposed to go down as just another proof that the Kremlin’s tough line in Chechnya was fully justified. They wanted at the same time to declare the Klebnikov murder case solved once and for all, without trying to find the real culprits.”

Panfilov said the authorities failed to get a guilty verdict because the jury refused to be manipulated.

“I was really relieved to hear this verdict,” he said. “It showed that despite all roadblocks on the way the country is slowly moving toward democracy, and that no matter how you may try, you can’t manipulate all the people.”

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Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko contributed to this report.