The double murder of a top human rights lawyer and a journalist in Moscow has reinforced the fears of those who say that in Russia words alone can put you in mortal danger, BBC reports.
Journalist Anastasia Baburova was wounded in the attack which killed human rights lawyer Mr Markelov. She later died of her injuries. Anastasia Baburova was with Mr Markelov when - investigators say - a masked gunman shot him in the head. After shooting Mr Markelov, the gunman shot her.
Anastasia Baburova (26) was a trainee with the newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The paper specialises in human rights stories, and used to employ Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative reporter who was herself murdered in 2006.
Mr Markelov had worked on numerous high-profile human rights cases. Most famously, he represented the family of Elza Kungayeva, a Chechen woman raped and killed by a Russian army officer in 2000. Elza Kungayeva - who was known as Kheda to her family - was murdered by Colonel Yuri Budanov.
Mr Markelov had campaigned against Yuri Budanov's early release. But last week, a court ruled that Budanov could go free. The court decision led to protests in Chechnya, a volatile North Caucasus republic deeply scarred by heavy fighting between Russian forces and separatist rebels since 1994.
Read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7839858.stm
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar