BORN indexing

Evgenia Khasis, one of the two accused in the case of the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, speaking in the Moscow City Court, said that the “Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists” (BORN) may be involved in the crime.

Khasis and the main accused Nikita Tikhonov (Tikhonov is accused directly of the murder of Markelov and Baburova, and Khasis is considered an accomplice) will continue to deny their guilt. At one of the last court hearings, defense witness, coordinator of the Russian Verdict organization Alexey Baranovsky stated that Khasis has an alibi: on January 19, 2009, the day when Markelov and Baburova were killed near the Kropotkinskaya metro station, he and Khasis I went to buy champagne near the Timiryazevskaya metro station. This testimony was indirectly confirmed by another witness for the defense, Olga Mukhacheva: according to her, that day Baranovsky called her and told her that he was going “with Zhenya” to buy champagne. Now Khasis herself confirmed this information and said that after the meeting with Baranovsky she went to inspect the new apartment that she was going to rent. According to her, when she was still with Baranovsky, they called him and told him about Markelov’s murder; Khasis then allegedly “didn’t immediately remember who it was.”

Tikhonov at the same meeting stated that the pistol used to commit the murder appeared in his possession eight months later. The weapon was allegedly given to him by the head of the nationalist organization “Russian Image” Ilya Goryachev. Goryachev was one of the prosecution witnesses, but he is now abroad and sent to the court a written refusal of the testimony given during the investigation, saying that it was given under pressure from FSB operatives.

Khasis denies belonging to the ultra-right circle. She described her political views at the court hearing as conservative-monarchist. Baranovsky, during his speech in court, stated that Khasis, on his instructions, was engaged in the fight against radical nationalism, and that is why allegedly on her laptop there was a photograph of the severed head of a native of Tajikistan and the texts of statements of the very “Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists” (which allegedly sent out this photo on the websites of human rights organizations). The prosecutor argued that the photo was saved on a laptop before it appeared on the Internet - Baranovsky claims that he discovered the materials on the Internet and then forwarded it to Khasis.

As for the BORN organization, in recent years it has taken responsibility for various high-profile crimes that could have been committed by representatives of various Russian nationalist groups - in particular, for the murder of anti-fascist Ivan Khutorsky in November 2009.