Latvia's Supreme Court released convicted Soviet war criminal Vasily Kononov from custody on April 25, saying there should be a new investigation of the evidence.

Latvia's Supreme Court allowed the 77-year-old to return to his Riga home, though he is not permitted to leave the country. The former Soviet partisan had been in detention since his arrest in 1998. Kononov was given a six year jail sentence early this year for ordering the execution of nine civilians who he suspected of pro-Nazi sympathies; prosecutors said his victims included a pregnant woman and several children. Pending a final ruling on whether his conviction should be quashed, the court called for clearer proof the victims were unarmed civilians; it also asked for expert testimony on whether the offenses are rightly considered war crimes. The killings took place in Latvia in 1944, the last year of a three year German occupation. Kononov at the time led a small band of pro-Soviet partisans. Kononov has maintained his innocence, claiming that those who died got caught in the crossfire in a battle between pro-Soviet and Nazi-backed forces. Moscow has also stepped forward to defend Kononov, and the case has strained Russian-Latvian relations. But Russian officials praised the Riga court's decision to release Kononov. The Russian Ambassador to Latvia Alexander Udaltsov said it was "a serious step towards justice."