MOSCOW, January 29 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Supreme Court denied a petition which had been filed by Nikita Tikhonov serving life in prison for his role in an extremist group linked to 2009 killing of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, RAPSI learnt in the court on Thursday.

Tikhonov was convicted and sentenced for six counts of murder, including killing federal judge Eduard Chuvashov, two counts of attempted murder and illegal keeping of weapon. He has pleaded guilty to the charges.

Chuvashov was shot dead in the stairwell of his Moscow apartment in 2010. During his career at the Moscow City Court, he reviewed over 20 high-profile criminal cases, some of which involved murder on ethnic grounds.

Tikhonov, a historian, journalist, nationalist and Slavophile, was sentenced to life in May 2011 by the Moscow City Court after he had been found guilty of killing lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova. Yevgenia Khasis, his accomplice, was given 18 years behind bars.

Investigation regarding Ilya Goryachev, another member of the BORN, is still in progress. Goryachev was placed on the international wanted list and in November 2013 extradited from Serbia. He was detained in Russia after the extradition.

According to investigators, members of the Russian Nationalist Fighters Group (BORN) are, among others, responsible for the murders of anti-fascist movement leaders Fyodor Filatov, Ilya Dzhaparidze, Ivan Khutorskoi, and Thai boxing world champion Muslim Abdullayev.