The Moscow City Court on Wednesday ruled that a criminal case into the murder of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II, be reopened, lawyer German Lukyanov said.
Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, their four daughters and son, and several servants, were shot dead by the Bolsheviks in a basement in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in the early hours of July 17, 1918.
In 2008, Russia's Supreme Court ordered the exoneration of Tsar Nicholas II and his family members following a request by Grand Duchess Maria Romanov.
However, the Basmanny District Court said there were no criminal offences committed against the royal family, as they were shot on behalf of the state. The case was closed on the grounds that those who had committed the premeditated murders of the royal family were dead.
The new case will assess evidence and arguments presented by the grand duchess and the Prosecutor General's Office, which was not done previously.
"The Grand Duchess hopes that justice will prevail," Lukyanov said.
The Romanovs were canonized in 2000, and are buried in St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral.
MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti)
