MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian military jury cleared on Thursday a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and another four people on trial for abduction and extortion.
"The jury acquitted all the defendants, citing lack of criminal content in their actions," a spokesman for a Moscow district military court said. The judge's verdict will be announced November 9.
A lawyer said the jury conferred for an hour. Roman Slivkin "was released from custody in the courtroom." Another of the accused - Andranik Alexanyan - was remanded in custody because he is serving his sentence on another case.
The other three defendants were Oleg Sachkov, Vladislav Yudichev and Dmitry Frolov.
Investigators said Slivkin and the other defendants kidnapped a businessman from the North Caucasus republic of Daghestan, and demanded a ransom of $300,000 for his release, threatening to kill him and his son if their demands were not fulfilled.
