DUSHANBE , March 30 - A court in St. Petersburg will announce verdict in the murder of the nine-year-old Tajik girl, Khursheda Sultonova, today.

            A prosecutor in the trial has asked the court to sentence seven defendants to prison terms from three to six years. 

Khursheda Sultonova was killed in February 2004 in St. Petersburg as she was taking a walk with her father and 11-year-old cousin, who were also wounded in the incident. A group of some 12 young men armed with bats, chains, and knives attacked them.

            In the meantime, the Tajik Embassy in Moscow hopes that the murderers of the Tajik girl will be brought to justice and punished in accordance with the law.