Human rights activists pay tribute to murdered lawyer and journalist

Tuesday marks one year since the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in Moscow.

Hundreds attended memorial services in the Russian capital. Two rallies have been held to honor the memory of murdered Markelov and Baburova. People brought flowers to the building on Moscow’s central street of Prechistenka where they were killed in 2009. Dozens of candles were lit.

At least 24 activists have been detained in Moscow’s center for trying to hold an authorized march in memory of the murdered Markelov and Baburova.

Moscow authorities gave permission for the rallies, but warned that any marches would be considered illegal. Police say those at one rally were trying to march to join demonstrators at the other when they were arrested.

According to investigators, the human rights lawyer and the journalist were killed by neo-Nazi extremists. Last November, a Moscow court charged two suspects in the double murder – Nikita Tikhonov and Evgenia Khasis. The investigation believes they killed Markelov out of revenge because he represented the nationalists’ victims in court. Baburova was most likely not the intended victim.

Stanislav Markelov was also famous for defending Chechen victims of human rights violations. Anastasia Baburova worked for the same opposition newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, as Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in 2006.