Two people, suspected over the murder of Russian federal judge, Eduard Chuvashov, in April 2010, have been detained, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Wednesday.
“During a special operation, FSB officials have detained residents of Moscow region suspected of being involved in committing this crime, Maksim Baklagin, 27, who was on the federal wanted list and Vyacheslav Isayev, 27,” the FSB said in a statement.
Chuvashov was shot dead on April 12, 2010 in the stairwell of his apartment block. He had previously been involved in a number of controversial cases, and heard the trial of the “White Wolves” skinhead group in February 2011, sentencing nine gang members to up to 23 years in prison. The group was responsible for 11 brutal murders. They filmed their attacks on cell phones and uploaded the footage onto ultranationalist websites.
According to the FSB, Baklagin and Isayev are members of several nationalist organizations. They are also suspected of involvement in a number of major crimes in 2008-2010.
In late March, investigators revealed the main suspect in Chuvashov’s murder, 28-year-old Alexei Korshunov. The investigators said Korshunov should be tried in absentia and put him on the wanted list.
Chuvashov’s killing has sparked comparisons with the broad daylight shooting of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in Moscow on January 19, 2009, in downtown Moscow, just a short distance from the Christ the Savior Cathedral. Markelov died at the scene and Baburova lost her struggle for life shortly afterwards in hospital. Both had been connected with investigations into ultra nationalist organizations.