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Romanovs hope tsar will be exonerated in Russia

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MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Imperial House said on Wednesday it will appeal to international institutions, if the Russian Prosecutor General's Office fails to exonerate the last tsar's family.

The Prosecutor General's Office has on two previous occasions refused to exonerate the Romanov family saying it was unable to recognize the tsar and his descendants as victims of political repression, because there was no official judicial or other documentation backing up the claims.

"The Russian Imperial House hopes justice will prevail in the motherland. Of course, we have the right of appeal to international institutions if this [exoneration] does not take place," spokesman Alexander Zakatov told a RIA Novosti news conference.

Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed by the Bolsheviks near Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, in 1918. Grand Duchess Maria Romanov, who heads the Russian Imperial House in exile, claims the killings were a state-sponsored execution rather than murder, and wants a court of justice to clear the monarch of all political charges leveled against him by the Bolshevik government.

Zakatov said that since 2005, justice was the primary goal of the Russian Imperial House.

"Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna [head of the Imperial House] will be happy to know that Russia observes the law, which will contribute to the positive image of Russia in the world," Zakatov said urging the government to recognize its "mistakes."

Lawyer German Lukyanov, an agent for the royal family, said the refusal by prosecutors to exonerate the Romanov family was of a political nature and "had no legal basis."

"The grand duchess has submitted over 200 documents testifying that the tsar's family had been subject to political repression for social, class and religious reasons, but the Prosecutor General's Office has not made a legal assessment of the testimonies," Lukyanov said.

Lukyanov also expressed an idea that Russia could return to a monarchy if the nation was in favor of such a move.

"I am an optimist. And if the nation wills it, then such a government institution could be restored," the lawyer said.

Zakatov echoed the lawyer's words saying that the Russian Imperial House was an important instrument for restoring traditions and breeding truly patriotic sentiments.

It is still disputed whether the death sentence for the tsar was a direct order from Vladimir Lenin in Moscow, or on the initiative of local Bolsheviks in the Urals. Nor is it known whether the execution order was for Nicholas alone or for the entire family.

The remains of Nicholas II were reburied with honors in 1998 in the former imperial capital, St. Petersburg. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him two years later.

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