Markelov’s Killer Identified
Investigators have established who killed human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov in central Moscow in January, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin told reporters Friday.
“We know how this man looks, that is, we have identified him,” Bastrykin said, Itar-Tass reported. “We haven’t found him yet, but we know who to look for.”
Bastrykin would not disclose the name of the suspect, but he said investigators knew the age, social status, “ideological positions” and “social network” of the gunman.
Markelov was shot dead together with Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova by a lone gunman.
 (MT)

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Court Clears Satirist
A Moscow court cleared satirist Viktor Shenderovich on Friday of libel charges filed by State Duma Deputy Sergei Abeltsev, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.
Shenderovich called Abeltsev of the Liberal Democratic Party a “Yahoo animal” on his talk show on Ekho Moskvy last year. Abeltsev filed a defamation suit, demanding 1 million rubles ($33,000) in damages.
Shenderovich maintained in Moscow’s Presnensky District Court that “Yahoo animal” is not an insult but only a reference to Jonathan Swift’s book “Gulliver’s Travels.” In describing the “deformed” Yahoos, Swift wrote, “Their heads and breasts were covered with thick hair … but the rest of their bodies were bare. …. They had no tails and often stood on their hind feet. … I never beheld in all my travels so disagreeable an animal.”
(MT)

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Mother Can See Daughter
Irina Belenkaya, the Russian mother involved in a child custody battle with her French ex-husband, has been granted temporary visitation rights with her daughter, Interfax reported.
A French court ruled Friday that Belenkaya could see her 3-year-old girl, Elise, three times a month and ordered the parents to try to reach a custody agreement before it issues a final decision.
“Of course I expected something like this,” said Belenkaya, who wants custody to be split 50-50, Interfax reported.
Belenkaya was arrested earlier this year while trying to cross the Hungarian-Ukrainian border with her daughter. Her estranged French husband, Jean-Michel Andre, accused her of kidnapping the child in France in March. She said Andre earlier kidnapped the child in Russia.
(MT)

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Madonna’s Curse Offends
St. Petersburg lawmakers have complained to Governor Valentina Matviyenko after pop star Madonna used a Russian swear word to describe her concert next month on the city’s Palace Square.
The lawmakers said Madonna damaged St. Petersburg’s reputation with an Internet promotional clip for the concert that shows her saying, “Okh----o! [It’s f---ing amazing]. This is Madonna. I hope to see you Aug. 2 on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. Don’t miss it,” RIA-Novosti reported Friday.
The lawmakers want Matviyenko to collect a percentage of Madonna’s concert proceeds in damages.
The head of PMI, Madonna’s local management, said the clip had “accidentally leaked onto the Internet,” RIA-Novosti reported.
(MT)