The Moscow City Hall did not approve the procession in memory of lawyer Markelov and journalist Baburova

The Moscow City Hall did not approve the action in memory of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were shot by neo-Nazi from the “Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists” Nikita Tikhonov in 2009. Novaya Gazeta was told about this by the January 19 Committee.

For 12 years, the action has traditionally taken place on January 19, the day of the murder of Markelov and Baburova. This time, the mayor’s office did not allow the rally to take place due to the coronavirus and reminded the organizer of their responsibility for holding an uncoordinated march.

“Political repressions and murders in our country continue and are gaining momentum. Now their source is increasingly not the Nazis, but the authorities. For many years, the slogan of the actions on January 19 was “To remember is to fight”! Now our duty is to speak out against the state’s terror towards its citizens,” the “January 19 Committee” said.

The organizers noted that instead of the procession, everyone would be able to lay flowers near the house on Prechistenka, near which the lawyer and journalist were killed.

Lawyer Stanislav Markelov represented the interests of anti-fascists and defended them in courts. It was his activities, as the Moscow City Court decided, that became the reason for the murder. Journalist Anastasia Baburova—an anarchist and anti-fascist in her views—was next to Markelov on the day of the murder. Their killer Nikita Tikhonov was sentenced to life imprisonment.