Baburova and Markelov Assassinated (2009)

Mon Jan 19, 2009

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On this day in 2009, anarchist journalist Anastasia Baburova (1983 - 2009) and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (1974 - 2009) were assassinated by Russian neo-Nazis.

Baburova was a member of the Russian anarchist group “Autonomous Action” and a student of journalism at Moscow State University. Markelov was a lawyer who defended left-wing political activists, anti-fascists, journalists, and victims of police violence.

On January 19th, 2009, Markelov gave a press conference where he fiercely denounced the early prison release of a Russian army officer, convicted for the abduction and murder of a Chechen girl. After finishing, a masked assailant shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Baburova, who was covering the press conference, was shot and killed after trying to stop the shooter.

In May 2011, the shooter Nikita Tikhonov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his partner Eugenia Khasis was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer has speculated that the Russian government was involved, noting that Tikhonov’s use of a pistol fitted with a silencer was atypical for the neo-Nazi movement, which usually used knives and homemade explosives to commit violence.