Source: HRO.org

• Moscow city & Moscow region  Human rights defenders  Right of assembly  Racism & xenophobia

On 19 January 2015 a march took place in Moscow in memory of the human rights lawyer, Stanislav Markelov, and the journalist Anastasia Baburova, both killed by neo-Nazis six years ago that day, Vera Vasilieva reports for HRO.org.

The march began at 19:00, moving from Novopushkinskii Square, along Tverskoi, Nikitskii and Gogolevskii boulevards. The participants eventually gathered at no.1, Prichistenka Street, where Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova were killed. Many people laid flowers and lit commemorative candles.

Among those who took part in the march were antifascists, human rights activists, members of the LGBT community, as well as civil society and political activists. The march was organized by the Party of 5 December.

The participants held banners with the inscription “Antifascism is ours” and posters saying: “I'm Stas Markelov”, “I'm Nastya Baburova”, “I'm Vanya Khutorskoi”, “I'm Ilya Dzhaparidze”. The names of other antifascists who were victims of hate crimes also echoed throughout the crowd.

The demonstrators chanted: “No to fascism in all its forms: from the streets to the authorities!”, “It’s a multi-coloured world and not the colour of fascism!”, “Skin colour is not important – say no to Nazism!” amongst other slogans.

A few incidents took place during the march on Gogolevsky Boulevard. An unknown person threw a firework into the crowd, which went off without harming anyone, and then ran away. In addition another young person, who was displeased by the slogans being chanted in favour of the LGBT community, began shouting out: ‘Moscow is not Sodom’.

After this, as police began to arrive at the scene of the incident, the instigator of the conflict disappeared. Towards the end of Gogolevsky Boulevard, near the rows of little shops, the demonstrators were met by a group of around 20 people, shouting: “Maidan will not pass” and “Russia! Homeland! Putin!” In the upshot, law enforcement officers had to clear the way towards Prechistenka.

Over 500 people took part in the event.

Stanislav Markelov was a Russian lawyer who worked on criminal cases related to gross violations of human rights by law enforcement agencies in Chechnya. He also represented antifascists in several court cases. He worked with the Novaya gazeta journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, who was assassinated in October 2006 in Moscow, and with Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in Grozny, who was killed in July 2009.

Translated by Sian Valvis