Moscow, September 14, 2011
Russia's top criminal investigation agency will pass over to descendants of the former Russian royal family a copy of its order to terminate the investigation of the 1918 execution of last Russian tsar Nicholas II, his family and members of his retinue, a senior investigator said on Wednesday.
"The court said it's desirable to hand over the papers to the Romanovs to familiarize themselves with it. Let them do so. It wasn't a classified case, we didn't keep a single forensic test secret. It has become public, and thank God for that," Vladimir Solovyov, a senior investigator and forensic expert at the Investigative Committee, told Interfax.
Solovyov had investigated the case.
"When the court sends us an official order, my seniors will give instructions and everything will be sent off the same day," he said. "It's no problem to make photocopies of about 700 pages. It's just a technical matter."
Earlier, the Committee had turned down a request by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who claims headship of the Russian Imperial House and lives in Spain, for issuing Romanov descendants with a copy of the order.
Moscow's Basmanny Court declared the Committee's decision illegal, and on September 7 the Moscow City Court ordered the Committee to make a copy of the termination order available to Maria Vladimirovna and her family.
The prosecution service appealed the September 7th order, but the City Court's press service told Interfax the court threw out the appeal on September 14.
