Yevgenia Khasis and Nikita Tikhonov, awaiting trial on charges of killing human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and a reporter in January 2009, were denied permission to marry while in detention, Interfax reported Tuesday.
The investigator working on the case said he would not sanction the marriage until the case is forwarded to the court, which is expected to happen by late October or early November, a friend of the suspects told Interfax.
Khasis and Tikhonov, who investigators say are ultranationalists, are accused in the shooting deaths of Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova in downtown Moscow.
Investigators suspect that Khasis and Tikhonov want to get married to make a good impression for the jury, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported Saturday. Prison marriages are not a rarity, but usually only one of the spouses is an inmate, a city registry office official told the daily.
(MT)
