Jury Selection For Khachaturyan Sisters' Trial In Moscow Postponed For Third Time

Jury selection in the high-profile trial of two sisters, Krestina and Angelina Khachaturyan, who along with their youngest sister are accused of killing their father in Moscow in 2018, has been postponed for third time since early-August.

The sisters' lawyers said on November 5, the day when the selection process was scheduled to resume, that the hearing had been moved to December 2 because the two plaintiffs were ill.

The process was already postponed in August and then in October, after some of the participants in the selection process were unable to do so after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The Moscow City Court ruled on August 3 that the two sisters will be tried by jury, a procedure allowed under Russian law in the case of serious crimes.

Investigators say that, in July 2018, Krestina, Angelina, and a third sister, Maria Khachaturyan -- then aged 19, 18, and 17 years old, respectively -- killed their father, Mikhail Khachaturyan, at their home on the outskirts of Moscow.

Materials gathered by investigators included substantial evidence of regular sexual and physical abuse by Khachaturyan against his daughters.

The case has attracted widespread attention from the Russian media and civil society and has pitted defenders of conservative values, backed by the Russian Orthodox Church, against women's rights activists who have been calling for the introduction of legislation on domestic violence as a way to bring alleged perpetrators like Khachaturyan to justice and enable their victims to plead self-defense.