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On January 19, 2009, lawyer Stanislav Markelov, 34,
was shot in the back of the head at close range by an attacker who
followed him in the street, wore a stocking-style mask and had a silencer
on his gun - clear signs of a planned killing, state-run RIA-Novosti news
agency reported, citing an unidentified law enforcement official. Police
also reportedly said there were several witnesses. Ms. Anastacia
Baburova, a young journalist, who worked on Politkovskaya's paper Novaya
Gazeta, who also took part in the conference and who has covered amongst
others the case of Mr. Budanov, was also shot trying to protect Markelov
and died soon after in hospital.
Stanislav Markelov was shot dead at around 2 pm, near
a building where he had just held a news conference, about half a mile (1
kilometer) from the Kremlin, when
he was coming back from a press conference entitled “Unlawful release of Budanov:
neglecting by court and direct advantage of militants: who to do next?”.
Mr. Markelov stated at the press conference that he was about to appeal
the denial made by the court of Dimitrovgrad city to consider the appeal
on Colonel Budanov’s early release.
Stanislaw Markelov was representing as a
lawyer the interests of Ms. Elza
Kungaeva’s family. Elza Kungaeva was a teenage girl, kidnapped , tortured, raped and brutally murdered
during the Chechen war by Russian Colonel, Yuri Budanov. Notwithstanding
the support Budanov gained from the tops of the army and state, and the
fact that he was made into a “hero” by the nationalist and far-right
movements, including the Orthodox Church, Budanov’s behavior proved
unacceptable to the court and he was jailed. Colonel
Budanov has become a symbol of human rights abuses perpetrated by federal
forces against Chechen civilians, and an icon for Russian nationalists.
On December 24, 2008, the Court had decided
to release Colonel Budanov prior the end of the term, for “good behaviour”.
Stanislav Markelov had filed a complaint
about the early release from prison of Colonel Budanov. On
January 11, 2009, the Court had rejected Mr. Markelov’s appeal against
the release decision. It led to protests in
Chechnya.
According to information received,
Stanislav Markelov constantly received telephone calls and text messages
in which he was threatened with death.
Recently, he had received death threats both
in text messages and phone calls.
Stanislav Markelov was an exception to many of his generation.
He was first and foremost a
political activist, who used his training as a lawyer for the benefit of
the movement. In the mid 1990s he was active in LAS, the Russian section
of Youth against Racism in Europe (YRE), which was initiated by the CWI.
Unlike many of his colleagues, Markelov put
his principles, while others ditched their principles to further their
careers. He gained a well earned reputation as an advocate, prepared to
speak out against injustice in any form.
Stanislav
Markelov was involved in a number of trials. He represented Anna Politkovskaya,
who wrote extensively about human rights violations in Chechnya. He also
had represented activists who have battled abuses the Russia's military
and a Chechen woman who was a victim in a 2002 hostage-taking attack on a
Moscow theater. He represented the victims in the Nord-Ost case,
the family of Mr. Zelimkhan Murdalov, who was subjected to torture and
who disappeared in 2004, as well
as the interests of Mr. Mikhail Beketov, the chief editor of the
Khimkinskaya Pravda, who was severely beaten on November 13, 2008. Significantly,
Stanislav’s murder provoked a protest demonstration of over a thousand
people in Chechnya.
Stanislav
Markelov also
acted on behalf of Mikhail Beketov, well know as an opposition journalist
in one of Moscow’s suburbs, who published revelations about the
corruption of city bureaucrats concerning the road building and
construction programmes. Makelov
also defended anti-fascist youths in court and acted against fascists.
Previously, in 2004, (See : http://www.idhae.org/idhae-uk-page4.1.rus.htm ) Stanislav Markelov was
attacked as he travelled home on the metro by a group of five men in
their twenties. They then hit him on the head with a
heavy object, causing him to lose consciousness. He woke up two hours
later at the last metro station. His mobile phone, which contained the phone
numbers of all his clients, was missing as were various identity
documents, including his lawyer’s licence card, his passport and an entry
card for the State Duma.
Among the missing case documents were those relating to the trial of
Sergei Lapin (known as "Kadet"), who has been charged in
connection with the "disappearance" and torture of Chechen
student Zelimkhan Murdalov, whose family is represented by Stanislav
Markelov. Sergei Lapin served in Chechnya as a member of the special
police detachment (OMON) from the Khanty-Mansyski region in the Russian
Federation which was operating in Grozny. Zelimkhan Murdalov
"disappeared" on 2 January 2001 after having been detained by
Russian OMON forces in Grozny. Witnesses claimed that he was tortured to
death in police custody.On 7 January 2001, a criminal investigation was
opened into Zelimkhan Murdalov’s "disappearance".
In September 2001, journalist Anna Politkovskaya published an article in Novaya
Gazeta newspaper called "The Disappearing People", in which
she spoke about the allegations connecting Sergei Lapin and his OMON
colleagues to the torture of Zelimkhan Murdalov.
In
January 2002, Sergei Lapin was arrested and charged in connection with
the allegations of torture of Zelimkhan Murdalov in detention. Sergei
Lapin was released pending trial in May 2003 because he was found not to
be threatening to the public safety. His trial began in Grozny at the end
of 2003, but he reportedly has not attended any of the hearings so far
because he claimed he suffered a mental illness. However, according to
reports, he was first dismissed from OMON, but later reinstated as a
police officer in the city of Nizhnevartovsk, where he currently serves.
Reportedly, he was recently awarded a medal "For Protecting Public
Order", accompanied by a letter, signed by the Russian President.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW !
Copy and send the following
letter:
Addresses:
- Dmitri Medvedev,
President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia,
Faxes:+ 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru; ·
- Mr. Yuriy Chaika, General
Public Prosecutor of Russian Federation, 125993, Moscow, GSP-3, 15a
B. Dimitrovka str. RUSSIA, Fax: +7 (495) 692-96-00 ·
- Ella Pamfilova,
Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the
Russian Federation, 103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod
3, Russian Federation, Fax:+70952064855;
- Vladimir Lukin, Russian
Federal Ombudsman for Human Rights, Fax: +7 495 607 3969 / +7 495
207-53-37;
- Minister of Internal
Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian
Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Fax: + 7 095 237 49
25;
- Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200
Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203
Letter:
[Your name here]
Your Excellency,
Like all lawyers in Europe, we are deeply
concerned following information received regarding the assassination of
Russian human rights lawyer, our distinguished colleague Mr Stanislav
Markelov, on 19 January 2009. .
On 19 January 2009, at approximately 3
p.m., Stanislav Markelov, 34, was shot in the back of the head at
close range by an attacker who followed him near the Kropotkinskaya metro station
in Moscow, wore a stocking-style mask and had a
silencer on his gun - clear signs of a planned killing - state-run
RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Ms. Anastacia Baburova, a young journalist,
who worked on Politkovskaya's paper Novaya Gazeta, who also took part in
the conference, was also shot trying to protect Markelov and died soon
after in hospital.
Our Colleague Stanislav
Markelov was the lawyer for the family of Elsa Kungayeva, an 18 year-old
Chechen girl who was abducted and killed in March 2000 by Russian army
Colonel Yuri Budanov. Colonel Budanov was arrested in 2000, sentenced to
10 years' imprisonment three years later, but released on parole on 15
January 2009.
Stanislav Markelov
was
shot near a building where they had just attended a press conference
entitled “Unlawful release of Budanov: neglecting by court and direct
advantage of militants: who to do next?”. He stated at the press conference that he
was about to appeal the denial made by the court of Dimitrovgrad city to
consider the appeal on Colonel Budanov’s early release.
Our Colleague Stanislav Markelov was involved in a number of trials.
He represented Anna Politkovskaya,
who wrote extensively about human rights violations in Chechnya. He had also represented human
rights defenders who have opposed human rights violations perpetrated by
Russia's military, and a Chechen woman who was the victim of an attack on
a Moscow theatre in which hostages were taken in 2002.
According to information received,
Stanislav Markelov constantly received telephone calls and text messages
in which he was threatened with death.
We believe that Stanislav
Markelov was killed because of his peaceful and legitimate human rights
work, in the defence of victims of human rights abuses in Chechnya.
As European and human rights Lawyers we
want to urge the Russian authorities to:
1. Order a thorough and impartial
investigation into the killing of our Colleague Stanislav Markelov, , in
order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil
competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions
provided by the law;with a view to publishing the results and bringing
those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;
2. Provide Mr. Stanislaw Markelov’s
family adequate reparation;
3. Put an end to all acts of harassment
against all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, and ensure
in all circumstances that they be able to carry out their work without
unjustified hindrances;
4. Comply with the relevant international
norms and standards and to report on all breaches of human rights
standards, in line with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with Article 1,
which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in
association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and
realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and
international levels”, as well as with Article 12.2 (“the State shall
take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent
authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,
against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse
discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence
of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the
present Declaration”);
5. .More generally, ensure in all
circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments
ratified by the Russian Federation.
Yours
sincerely,
[Your signature here]
TAKE
ACTION NOW !
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bservatory for Defence
Rights and attacks against lawyers
