Russian Jury Acquits Man Accused of Murdering Tajik Girl, Others Found Guilty of Hooliganism - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM

A jury acquitted a teenager accused of murdering a nine-year-old Tajik girl two years ago in Russia’s second largest city St. Petersburg, one of the most shocking hate crimes in recent years. Of the eight charged with the February 2004 beating and stabbing to death of Khursheda Sultonova, seven were found guilty of hooliganism by the St. Petersburg jury on Wednesday. But the jury cleared the main defendant of murder, The Associated Press reported, citing local news agencies. The girl’s father and his nephew were also wounded in the attack. The teenager charged with the hate crime had pleaded innocent, retracting his earlier confession, which he said he had made under duress.