(6 May 2006)
May 6, 2005
1. Wide of Moscow City Court
2. Close of court sign
3. Wide of judge reading verdict to court
4. Medium of the acquitted
5. Close up judge reading non-guilty verdict
6. Wide of acquitted, zoom in to one of the acquitted, Fail Sadretdinov, hugging his lawyer Ruslan Zakolyuzhniy
7. Medium of Kazbek Dukuzov, the acquitted approaching press
8. Cutaway of media
9. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Kazbek Dukuzov, acquitted:
"They kept saying that I am a Chechen all the time. When I admitted it myself, then they tried to prove that I am a bad Chechen. And all their proof was that I am a bad Chechen, and that was it. They had no proof and couldn''t have any proof."
10. Wide of Kazbek Dukuzov stepping back, lawyer Ruslan Zakolyuzhniy comes up to press
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ruslan Zakolyuzhniy, lawyer representing Fail Sadretdinov (acquitted)
"I believe this verdict is just, lawful and justified. It completely corresponds with the yesterday''s (Friday''s) jury vote. We expected such a verdict."
12. Wide of lawyer Zakolyuzhniy and one of the acquitted, Fail Sadretdinov, talking to press
13. Close up Dukuzov smiling
14. Medium pan Dukuzov and others leaving
FILE: July 9, 2004
++NIGHT SHOTS++
15. Various of investigators at scene where Paul Klebnikov was shot
16. Flowers on road next to police tape
17. Cover of Russian version of Forbes magazine
18. Magazine article, zoom to photo of Klebnikov
FILE: Recent
19. Various of Paul Klebnikov presenting Russian version of "Forbes" magazine
STORYLINE:
A Russian court on Saturday acquitted two men accused of murdering US journalist and Forbes Russian edition editor Paul Klebnikov, and prosecutors said they would appeal the verdict.
The Moscow City Court''s verdict followed a jury vote on Friday to acquit ethnic Chechen Kazbek Dukuzov, Musa Vakhayev and Fail Sadretdinov in the killing of Klebnikov.
Prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin told reporters that he would appeal the verdict to Russia''s Supreme Court on "flagrant procedural violations."
Dukuzov''s lawyer Igor Korotkov said eight jurors favoured acquittal and four were opposed.
Ruslan Zakolyuzhniy, the lawyer representing Fail Sadretdinov said, "I believe this verdict is just, lawful and justified. It completely corresponds with the yesterday''s (Friday''s) jury vote. We expected such a verdict."
Relatives and friends of the defendants met the verdict with cheers, applause and tears of relief outside the courtroom.
Klebnikov, a 41-year-old New Yorker of Russian descent, was fatally shot on the street outside the Forbes office in Moscow in July 2004.
The high-profile slaying raised questions about who would want to kill Klebnikov, a journalist and author who investigated corruption and sought to shed light on the closed, sometimes violent world of Russian business.
The US State Department and Klebnikov''s family urged the Russian government to continue its investigation with renewed vigour after the acquittal.
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