Defendant In Russian Lawyer's Killing Says Husband Was Framed - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2011

A defendant charged in the 2009 murders of journalist Anastasia Baburova and lawyer Stanislav Markelov says her husband has been framed as the main suspect in the case, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The trial of Nikita Tikhonov and his wife, Yevgeniya Khasis, started in Moscow on February 21.

She told the court that she will testify at the end of the trial.

Khasis added that her husband was framed by officials 'so that the truth about Markelov's murder would be buried once and forever.'

Markelov was involved in defending victims of arbitrary police violence in the North Caucasus. He and Baburova were gunned down in downtown Moscow in broad daylight."