RUSSIA: A hand grenade lobbed into a St Petersburg courthouse which killed an official and wounded 12 more, including the judge, has highlighted the lawlessness that still haunts Russia.
Detectives are still investigating Wednesday's attack, which came seconds after three policemen were jailed for six years on charges of exceeding their authority.
Eyewitnesses said one officer produced the grenade which he had smuggled into court and hurled it towards the judge. It apparently fell short, killing a court official, wounding prosecution and defence lawyers, and blowing the hand off the man who threw it. Despite the chaos, the defendants failed to escape.
The blast revives memories St Petersburg thought it had left behind, when it was known as the gangster capital of Russia during the late 1990s with Mafia killings running at one a week.
It comes with mounting concern over law and order after a series of high-profile assassination operations in Moscow.
Last summer the American editor of Forbes Moscow magazine, Paul Klebnikov, was shot dead in central Moscow. Russian prosecutors yesterday said his murder was ordered by a Chechen separatist angered by the reporter's negative portrayal of him, and have declared the case closed.
In March former vice prime minister Anatoly Chubais narrowly escaped being killed when his car was attacked by an army mine and machine-gun fire.
In April former head of the Moscow FSB - the renamed KGB - was killed with his wife inside their apartment.
A recent public opinion survey showed people were worried that the country was heading towards "anarchy" and several surveys have complained that police "shake down" drivers - demanding on-the-spot fines for minor infringements.
Last December police in the town of Blagoveshchensk reacted to a political protest by arresting hundreds of people.
This month the Moscow Times reported that an inquiry into complaints from more than 100 people hurt in the operation unearthed a secret document giving police wide-ranging powers during "emergency situations".
More controversy has come with news that about 1 per cent of defendants appearing before public courts are found not guilty - the lowest ratio in Europe.
But law enforcement agencies insist they are making progress.
Intelligence foiled several bomb operations planned by Chechen rebels for VE Day celebrations in May. Prosecutors said yesterday they had arrested men they believe are responsible for the contract killing of Klebnikov, targeting both the trigger-pullers and the gang they said had ordered the hit.