Defendant In High-Profile Russian Murder Trial ‘Slashes Wrists’

MOSCOW — A defendant in a high-profile murder trial in Moscow is reported to have tried to slash his wrists in his cell, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.

Nikita Tikhonov and his partner Yevgenia Khasis went on trial in February for the killings of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were shot dead in a Moscow street in January 2009.

The victims’ lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said that Tikhonov attempted to slash his wrists today in order to prolong the hearings.

Sources close to the investigation say that Tikhonov’s injuries are not serious and he will be able to testify on April 27.

Tikhonov and Khasis are active members of an ultranationalist group.

Both have pleaded not guilty.

Read more in Russian here

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