Markelov's brother says the advocate's murder is solved

In the near future, inspectors will arrest several persons who committed the murder of Stanislav Markelov because of his activities. This was stated by Mikhail Markelov, the lost lawyer's brother and head of the regional branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party; however, he refused to give the names yet.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that Stanislav Markelov was shot dead on January 19 on his way from the press conference at the Prechistenka Independent Press Centre dedicated to early relief of former colonel Yuri Budanov.

According to Mikhail Markelov, he held his own independent investigation of the crime by using his deputy's ties and help of journalists, under maximum cooperating with the investigation. As a result, the inspectors' and brother's conclusions have coincided.

According to Mikhail, the main motive of the crime was in Stanislav's professional work, when he represented the interests of the relatives of the "Nord Ost" victims, the Chechens who had suffered from militiaman Lapin (also known as "Cadet") and Mikhail Beketov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khimki Pravda", who was last year brutally beaten by unknown persons, as well as of the families of anti-fascists and migrants, who has been assassinated by Moscow skinheads.

Mikhail Markelov has noted that the murder was committed by a group of persons; and he knows for certain "with whom it was connected and where they're now." He has also added that he knows the gunman who shot at Markelov and his exact address; however, he is not sure yet, whether "there was an individual customer of the murder, or the organizers are the customers." According to Mikhail, the murder of Anastasia Baburova, a correspondent of the "Novaya Gazeta", who accompanied Stanislav on that day, was not pre-planned: having shot in her head, the killer tried to get rid of the witness.

According to Mr Markelov, the murderers of his brother are linked with a number "of informal organizations operating both in the territory of Russia and in the West." "They cooperated with our local and foreign similar organizations. I visited a number of cities, including London and Brussels, and made this conclusion based on enough proofs. As it became clear later, they coincided with inspectors' outcomes," said Mikhail as quoted by the "Gazeta.Ru".

He has added that the information on his investigation (surnames, addresses and contacts) "is kept in a leased cell of one of European banks" - to safeguard himself and his brother's family. Besides, Stanislav's wife and children are now guarded.

Mikhail Markelov refused to give culprits' names yet, as it can damage the course of investigation, as reported by the Russian News Service.