Russian army officer in Chechnya killings no show in court

ROSTOV ON DON, December 27 (RIA Novosti) - A Interior Ministry officer charged with abduction and the murders of three Chechen civilians has not shown up at court for a reading of the verdict in his trial.

Yevgeny Khudyakov's lawyer said her client's whereabouts were unknown.

The Supreme Court previously annulled a jury's non-guilty verdict against officers Yevgeny Khudyakov and Sergei Arakcheyev following a Constitutional Court ruling that serious crimes committed in Chechnya be heard by military courts rather than by juries.

Khudyakov and Arakcheyev have been charged with the murders of three construction firm employees in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in January 2003.

The men are now being tried by a panel of three professional judges.

The prosecution demanded 18- and 20-year prison sentences for Khudyakov and Arakcheyev, respectively.