Moscow, September 20, 2010 - Interfax
The Romanov family is demanding a new criminal case to investigate the killing of Russia's last Tsar and his family.
"There needs to be a new criminal case and a new investigator," Alexander Zakatov, director of the Romanov family chancellery, told Interfax on Monday.
"There is a need to make a final decision on who the people whose remains were found in Yekaterinburg were and who is buried in the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Cathedral. The state, church, and the Romanov family need to reach a single opinion. Russian society should have no doubts about the remains," Zakatov said.
In late August, the Moscow Basmanny Court reversed the decision made by an investigator with the Investigative Committee on January 15, 2009, to close the criminal case on the basis of the Romanov family killing. The Investigative Committee did not contest the decision.
On October 1, 2008, the Russian Supreme Court made a decision to rehabilitate Nicholas II and his family. On January 15, 2009, the Investigative Committee issued an order to close the criminal case.
The Romanov family disagreed with the Investigative Committee's decision that the Romanovs fell victims of an ordinary crime, saying they were killed on behalf of the state.
The Romanov family earlier said it is not ready to recognize the authenticity of the remains believed to be those of the Romanovs, which were found near Yekaterinburg, saying it would be guided by the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this matter.
The Romanovs and people close to them (11 people in total) were shot and killed on a decision made by the Urals Council in the early hours of July 17, 1918.
