21 May 2014 16:45

Jury acquits man accused of masterminding murder of rector of St. Pete university

ST. PETERSBURG. May 21 (Interfax) - The jury acquitted Vitaly Kovalyov, who was charged with masterminding the killing of Alexander Viktorov, rector of the St. Petersburg State University of Service and Economics, in the Leningrad region's court on Wednesday, his lawyer Larisa Fon-Arev told Interfax.

Kovalyov was also acquitted on the charges of masterminding the killing of businessman Dmitry Zarubin. "The jury met over the course of three hours. Kovalyov was acquitted on both counts of crime and was released in the courtroom," the lawyer said.