Romanovs Want Czar Nicholas' Murder Investigated

(Moscow, Russia) The murders of Czar Nicholas II and his family in 1918 by the Bolsheviks need to be investigated, says an heir to the imperial Romanov throne.

The Investigative Committee said it had formally closed a criminal investigation into the killing of Nicholas II because too much time had elapsed since the crime and because those responsible had died.

But monarchists said a resumption of the criminal case is essential if Russia is finally to come to terms with its brutal past.

"This case is essential for Russia," said Alexander Zakatov, who represents Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov who styles herself as the heir to the imperial throne.

"Russians need to know about the fate of the tsarist family and all of the other victims of the Communist regime. There should be a clear legal verdict on this," said Zakatov, who heads the chancellery of Russia's so-called Imperial House.

He said lawyers for Maria Vladimirovna had asked Moscow's Basmanny District Court to force prosecutors to reopen the case, which he said was needed to resolve a host of questions about the murder and remains said to belong to the last tsar.

There remain questions about the remains of Czar Nicholas II and his family which were reportedly unearthed in 1991 and placed in the imperial crypt in St. Petersburg. The Russian Orthodox Church concurs with the Romanov heir that an investigation needs to proceed.