Police in Moscow detained on Wednesday over 20 people at a rally in memory of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, murdered two years ago by suspected neo-Nazis, a police spokesman said.
Human rights lawyer Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Baburova were shot dead on January 19, 2009 in the centre of Moscow, just a short distance from the Christ the Savior Cathedral.
In November 2009, two members of a radical neo-Nazi nationalist group, Nikolai Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis were charged with the murders.
Rallies in memory of Markelov and Baburova also took place in several other Russian cities, including in St. Petersburg and the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The largest rally took place in Moscow though, where some 350 participants and 150 journalists gathered.
Those detained were held on public disturbances charges.
"One of the detained set off a flare, others were wearing face-masks," the police spokesman said.
The 2009 murders made headlines all over the world and once again highlighted the dangers faced by journalists and human rights activists in Russia, which has one of the poorest journalist safety records in the world.
MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti)
