MOSCOW, April 14 (RAPSI) - Two jurors have been removed from a new jury panel of the Anna Politkovskaya murder case, the Moscow City Court told RIA Novosti on Monday.

One juror did not attend the hearing, another member of the jury left the court after the lunch break and shut off his mobile phone. Presently, there are 12 regular and 3 alternate jurors in the trial. In January, the Moscow City Court removed five jurors from the panel.

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.