On Thursday, November 14, a Moscow court dismissed the jury in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial, completely confusing the already drawn-out proceedings.

      A juror was removed by the court last week after it emerged that he had a previous conviction for murder. Three more members of the jury subsequently quit, leaving the panel with less than 12 people.

      It is already the sixth time the trial is posponed. The previous one was in late October, when a medical quarantine regime at a detention facility housing one of the defendants had to be kept in force.

      The next jury try-outs are set for January 14.

      There are currently five suspects on trial, including Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, the brothers Rustam Makhmudov, Ibragim Makhmudov and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev.

      The suspects are accused of organizing and carrying out the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a crusading reporter with the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper. She was shot dead at the age of 48 in the elevator of her central Moscow apartment building on October 7, 2006. Her murder has been linked to her coverage of human rights abuses in Chechnya.