Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Tuesday threw out a defamation lawsuit filed against Novaya Gazeta newspaper by an alleged ultranationalist linked to the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, Interfax reported.
Yevgenia Khasis sought 1 million rubles ($32,000) in damages over a January article describing her detention and the investigation into her and another suspect in the case, Nikita Tikhonov. Khasis’ lawyer could not say Tuesday whether she would appeal, the report said.
Investigators say Tikhonov shot dead Markelov and Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova in downtown Moscow in November. Khasis is charged as an accomplice in Markelov’s murder.
Khasis and Tikhonov’s trial is expected to begin in the next few weeks. The two requested permission to marry while in pretrial detention but were refused.
(MT)
