Murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova explained

Murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova
Location:Moscow, Russia
Date:19 January 2009
Type:Assassination
Weapon:Browning 1910 pistol
Fatalities:2
Perpetrators:Battle Organization of Russian Nationalists

On 19 January 2009, two Russian journalists, Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov, were shot and killed by members of the neo-Nazi organization Battle Organization of Russian Nationalists. Baburova became the fourth Novaya Gazeta journalist to be killed since 2000.

Murder

Stanislav Markelov was shot to death on 19 January 2009 while leaving a news conference in Moscow less than NaNmiles from the Kremlin; he was 34. Anastasia Baburova, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta who tried to come to Markelov's assistance, was also shot and killed in the attack.[1] [2] The weapon used in the shooting was a Browning 1910 pistol.[3]

At first it was reported that Baburova had been wounded in an attempt to detain Markelov's killer, but later Russian law enforcement authorities declared that Baburova was shot in the back of her head. Baburova died a few hours after the attack at a Moscow hospital.[4]

Aftermath

Reactions

Close to 300 young people protested in Moscow with slogans such as "United Russia is a fascist country" and "Markelov will live forever".[5] More than 2,000 people took to the streets of Grozny.[6]

Then President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko sent her parents a condolence telegram on 23 January 2009.[7] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave his condolences six days later.[8] [9] [10]

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International requested an impartial investigation.[11] A hate crimes expert, Galina Kozhevnikova, said in February 2009 that she received an e-mailed threat warning her to "get ready" to join Markelov.[12]

The BBC reported that Markelov had planned to appeal the early release of Yuri Budanov. Budanov, sentenced to ten years in prison, was released early because he had "repented".[13] When reached for a comment, Budanov denounced the killings as a provocation aimed at fueling animosity between Russians and Chechens and offered condolences to the families of the deceased.[14]

Investigations by the radio station Echo of Moscow indicate that most people distrusted the authorities and thought they could not adequately investigate the murder and that the crimes would not be solved.[15]

According to Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, the details of the murder indicate the involvement of Russian state security services.[16] He stated:

Burial

On 26 January 2009, Baburova was buried in the central city cemetery of her home town of Sevastopol.[17]

Investigation

In November 2009, Russian authorities declared the end of the criminal investigation. The murder suspects were 29-year-old Nikita Tikhonov and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Yevgenia Khasis, a radical nationalist couple involved with a group called Russky Obraz or Russian Image (Russian: Русский образ) and associated with the identitarian organization BORN (Russian: Боевая организация русских националистов).[18] [19]

Initially, "Russkiy Obraz" was a magazine, set up by Tikhonov and his friend in 2002 as a clone of the radical fascist Serbian "Image" (Russian: Сербское "Образ") formed by Mladen Obradovic (Russian: Младен Обрадович), Deacon Boban Milovanovic (Russian: диакон Бобан Милованович) and Alexander Mishich (Russian: Александр Мишич).[20] Both were students of history at Moscow State University.[21] According to Tikhonov, the identitarian organization BORN was founded by him and Goryachev in 2007.[22]

According to both Khasis and Sergey Smirnov, Russky Obraz was the political roof for BORN similar to Sein Fein's relationship to the Irish Republican Army.[23] [24] According to Khasis, Leonid Simunin was the BORN connection to the Kremlin and the presidential administration through Vladislav Surkov with a siloviki as the retired FSB officer Aleksey Korshunov (Russian: Алексей Коршунов) another strong supporter of BORN.[25]

According to investigators, Tikhonov was the one who committed the murder, while Khasis reported to him, by cell phone, the movements of Markelov and Baburova right before the assault. The motive of the murder was revenge for Markelov's prior work as a lawyer in the interests of Trotskyite activists.

Legal proceedings

The murder suspects were arrested, and were reported to have confessed. In May 2011, Tikhonov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Khasis was sentenced to 18 years in prison.[26]

In 2015, Goryachev was sentenced for the murder of Markelov.[27]

Notes and References

  1. News: Schwirtz . Michael . Bowley . Graham . 2009-01-19 . Chechen Rights Lawyer and Journalist Shot in Moscow . en . . dead . 2009-01-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090124234133/http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/19/europe/20chechnya.php . 2009-01-24.
  2. News: Schwirtz . Michael . 2009-01-19 . Leading Russian Rights Lawyer Is Shot to Death in Moscow, Along With Journalist . . 2009-01-20 . 0362-4331.
  3. News: Chernykh . Alexander . 2011-01-21 . Key evidence emerges in Markelov, Baburova killings . en-US . . . 2023-12-09.
  4. News: 2009-01-26 . В Севастополе похоронили Анастасию Бабурову . ru . Anastasia Baburova buried in Sevastopol . Peoples.ru . dead . 2009-01-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716163118/http://news.peoples.ru/2009/01/26/33048.shtml . 2011-07-16.
  5. News: 2009-01-20 . Анархисты все-таки прошли шествием по Москве . ru . Anarchists marched through Moscow after all . Грани.ру . 2009-01-21.
  6. News: Дадаев . Ахмед . 2009-01-20 . Чеченцы хотят увековечить память убитого адвоката . ru . Chechens want to memorialize murdered lawyer . . dead . 2009-01-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090130064306/http://www.svobodanews.ru/Article/2009/01/20/20090120181631460.html . 2009-01-30.
  7. Web site: 2009-01-23 . Виктор Ющенко выразил соболезнования в связи с гибелью журналистки Анастасии Бабуровой . Viktor Yushchenko expresses condolences over death of journalist Anastasia Baburova . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090204223408/https://www.president.gov.ua/ru/news/12698.html . 2009-02-04 . 2009-01-27 . Справочная Секретариата Президента Украины . ru.
  8. News: Kim . Lucian . 2009-01-29 . Medvedev Expresses Condolences Over Journalist Slain in Moscow . en-US . . dead . 2009-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023205834/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aNx5E6AYmcBs&refer=europe . 2012-10-23.
  9. News: 2009-01-29 . Дмитрий Медведев сказал, почему не выразил соболезнования в связи с убийством Маркелова и Бабуровой . ru . Dmitry Medvedev said why he did not express condolences in connection with the murder of Markelov and Baburova . Mideast.ru . dead . 2009-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090131083229/http://mideast.ru/367/44783 . 2009-01-31.
  10. News: Belton . Catherine . Catherine Belton . 2009-01-30 . Medvedev sympathy for murdered activists signals break from past . . dead . 2009-01-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090225005240/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0d2064d6-ee6f-11dd-b791-0000779fd2ac.html . 2009-02-25.
  11. News: 2009-01-20 . Правозащитники требуют расследования убийства Маркелова . ru . Human rights activists demand an investigation into Markelov's murder . Грани.ру . 2009-01-21.
  12. Web site: Wolfe . Lauren . 2009-02-11 . Neo-Nazis threaten to murder journalists in Russia . 2023-12-09 . . en-US.
  13. News: 2009-01-19 . Prominent Russian lawyer killed . en-GB . . 2009-01-19.
  14. News: Качкаева . Элина . 2009-01-20 . В центре Москвы расстреляли адвоката, выступавшего против освобождения Буданова . ru . A lawyer who opposed Budanov's release was shot dead in the center of Moscow . . 2009-01-20.
  15. Web site: 2009-01-25 . Будут ли найдены виновные в смерти Маркелова и Бабуровой? . Will those responsible for the deaths of Markelov and Baburova be found? . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090131084853/http://www.echo.msk.ru/polls/568363-echo/comments.html . 2009-01-31 . 2009-02-13 . . ru.
  16. News: Felgenhauer . Pavel . Pavel Felgenhauer . 2009-01-22 . The Russian Security Services—The Prime Murder Suspect . en . . The Jamestown Foundation . dead . 2009-01-29 . https://archive.today/20121220214736/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=34391&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=fb814ff846 . 2012-12-20.
  17. News: 2009-01-26 . Sevastopol pays final respects to journalist gunned down in Moscow . en . . live . 2009-01-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090211160343/http://unian.net/eng/news/news-297088.html . 2009-02-11.
  18. News: Parfitt . Tom . 2011-05-06 . Russian neo-Nazi gets life sentence for murdering lawyer and journalist . en-GB . . 2016-01-19 . 0261-3077.
  19. News: Krainova . Natalya . 2013-11-11 . Nationalist Suspected in High-Profile Killings Extradited . en . . dead . 2016-01-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160126053226/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/nationalist-suspected-in-hgh-profile-killings-extradited/489332.html . 2016-01-26.
  20. News: Нэцин . Горан . 2012-06-22 . Шешель - почетный гражданин Москвы? . ru . Sheshel - an honorary citizen of Moscow? . . 2019-12-23.
  21. News: 2009-01-26 . Stanislav Markelov and anarchists . en . . dead . 2016-01-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091228155655/http://libcom.org/news/stanislav-markelov-anarchists-26012009 . 2009-12-28.
  22. News: Moulton . Emily . 2015-07-29 . Russian neo-Nazi Ilya Goryachev was jailed for life for a string of hate killings in Russia . en-AU . . 2016-01-19.
  23. News: Козенко . Андрей . 2014-11-20 . Дело БОРН. Допрос неонацистки Хасис . ru . The BORN case. Interrogation of neo-Nazi Khasis . . 2019-12-23.
  24. News: Васюнин . Илья . 2014-02-28 . АРХИВ. Интервью с Леонидом Симуниным, которого Евгения Хасис назвала куратором БОРНа из Кремля. . ru . ARCHIVE. Interview with Leonid Simunin, whom Yevgeniya Khasis described as BORN's handler from the Kremlin . . 2019-12-23.
  25. News: Козенко . Андрей . 2014-11-20 . "Я была его женщиной. У меня автомат под подушкой хранился" Евгения Хасис дала показания по делу БОРНа . ru . "I was his woman. I kept a machine gun under my pillow" Yevgenia Khasis testified in the BORN case . . 2019-12-23.
  26. News: Mirovalev . Mansur . 2011-05-06 . Nikita Tikhonov And Yevgenia Khasis, Russian Nationalists, Sentenced For Killing Human Rights Lawyer, Journalist . en-US . . dead . 2020-02-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110509092108/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/nikita-tikhonov-yevgenia-khasis-sentenced_n_858591.html . 2011-05-09.
  27. Web site: Coynash . Halya . 2015-07-15 . Leader of "Kremlin project" found guilty of ultranationalist BORN murders . 2015-07-17 . . en.

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