MOSCOW, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Russia's supreme court Wednesday formally rehabilitated the country's last tsar, Nicholas II, as a victim of Soviet political repression in a symbolic gesture long demanded by relatives, news agencies reported.

'The presidium of the supreme court orders the repression to be recognised as groundless and orders the rehabilitation of Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov' and his family, RIA Novosti news agency quoted the presiding judge as saying.