Nikita Tikhonov, wearing a hood, changed his story during the trial A Moscow court has sentenced a Russian nationalist to life imprisonment for murdering a prominent human rights lawyer and a journalist.
Nikita Tikhonov was found guilty of shooting lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, a reporter, in central Moscow in January 2009.
Tikhonov’s girlfriend Yevgenia Khasis was jailed for 18 years for helping him kill them.
Mr Markelov’s human rights work had angered nationalists.
He had defended Chechens who were victims of alleged human rights abuses.
Ms Baburova worked on the opposition Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which specialises in human rights issues.
The murder, carried out in broad daylight, sparked international accusations that Russia was not doing enough to arrest the killers of government critics.
When Tikhonov and Khasis were arrested in November 2009, Russian police sources linked them to an outlawed far-right group, Russian National Unity.
Both defendants denied the charges and their lawyers say they will appeal, if necessary to the European Court of Human Rights.
Russian National Unity denied any involvement in the murders and said the two had never been members.
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