MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court on Wednesday postponed the Anna Politkovskaya murder case hearing until January 20, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court thus gave time to a new attorney of the alleged killer Rustam Makhmudov for studying the case materials. Earlier, Makhmudov declined the services of his previous lawyer.

On November 14, the court disbanded the jury in the trial. The court decided to disband the panel after three more jurors decided to abstain from the trial, leaving less than 12 jurors present. Earlier, one of the jurors participating in trial has been revealed as murder convict himself.

Novaya Gazeta newspaper journalist Politkovskaya was shot and killed in her apartment building on October 7, 2006. Her murder has been linked by some experts to her coverage of human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The five suspects include former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Rustam, Ibragim, and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev. The investigators believe that Rustam Makhmudov committed the murder with the help of his brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle, and Khadzhikurbanov.