Russian Court Postpones Verdict On Deadly Karelian Unrest

Sergei Mozgalev (left) and Yuri Pliyev, two of the defendants in the Kondopoga case

PETROZAVODSK, Russia -- The Supreme Court in the Russian republic of Karelia says it has postponed issuing a verdict until March 29 on the deadly unrest in 2006 in the city of Kondopoga, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The verdict was due to be announced on March 22. It is the second time the ruling has been postponed.

There are six defendants in the case, all of them from the North Caucasian republics of Chechnya and Daghestan.

Investigators claim the six initiated a fight in a Kondopoga restaurant that erupted into widespread ethnic clashes and mass disorder in the city almost four years ago.

Two people were killed and nine severely wounded in the unrest.