2 arrested in slayings of lawyer, journalist

Investigators identified the suspects as a man and woman in their 20s but gave no details about their motives or suspected roles in the killings of Stanislav Markelov or Anastasia Baburova.

In briefing President Dmitry Medvedev on the arrests, the director of Russia’s security services suggested the suspects were extreme nationalists. He said they belonged to an armed group that was implicated in a recent killing motivated by ethnic hatred.

Markelov, 34, a prominent lawyer whose work had angered nationalists, and Baburova, 25, a journalist walking with him, were shot after leaving a news conference on Jan. 19 in a daytime attack by a lone gunman wearing a stocking-style mask.

Russia has seen a string of contract-style killings of human rights workers and journalists in recent years. Few of the killings are ever solved. In the rare case when people suspected of taking part in a killing are brought to trial, the mastermind is rarely identified.

Meanwhile, a Russian rights group said Chechen authorities yesterday abducted a human rights advocate in Moscow who has been critical of Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed leader.

Arbi Khachukayev was detained by Chechen security officers and was flown to the Chechen capital of Grozny against his will, the Memorial group said. It said it learned about his abduction when he was being taken to the Vnukovo airport outside Moscow.

Khachukayev heads a Chechen rights group named Law that has exposed alleged human rights abuses committed by forces loyal to Chechnya’s president, Ramzan Kadyrov.