MOSCOW, June 3 (RAPSI) - The five men suspected of killing journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya have asked the Moscow City Court for their case to be considered by a jury, attorney for the victims Anna Stavitskaya told RAPSI Monday.

"The suspects confirmed having made this request at a court hearing," he said, adding that the defense has asked for the case to be returned to the prosecutor's office due to violations of the Criminal Procedural Code while compiling the indictment.

"Meanwhile, the prosecutors have asked the court to extend the detention of the three suspects held in remand for another six months, as well as the travel restrictions enforced on the other two individuals," Stavitskaya said.

The five suspects include former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, the three Makhmudov brothers, and their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev. The sixth suspect, former police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who earlier signed a plea bargain, gave evidence against his accomplices and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Politkovskaya, a journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was shot dead in her apartment building on Oct. 7, 2006. Her murder has been linked by some experts to her coverage of human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The investigators believe Rustam Makhmudov committed the murder with the help of his two brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle, and Khadzhikurbanov.