Tsar’s family murder investigation reopened

A Moscow court has ordered the continuation of the prosecution of the killers of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. The case was earlier closed, but the Romanov’s attorney appealed against the decision.

The reason for the appeal is that the Investigative Committee’s decision was motivated by the fact that all those who summarily executed the tsar and his relatives have since died. However, earlier Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that they had been executed on behalf of the state.

The court on Thursday backed the reasoning and ordered the case to be reopened.

Nicholas II and his family were shot dead in Ekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, under the order of a local council. The legal authority of this move is now at issue.

The remains of the Romanovs were buried in St. Petersburg, while the tsar himself is revered as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.