24.01.09

Killing of the lawyer and human rights activist Stanislav Markelov in downtown Moscow Monday was a cynical and brutal act, Pavel Krasheninnikov, the chairman of the State Duma's committee for civil and penal legislation told Itar-Tass.

"It was a challenge to our society," he said.

Krasheninnikov urged the forces of law and order to investigate the crime in a maximum operative way so that it would not grow over into a political one.

"I wouldn't like to see any political underpinning appear in this case," he said. "The task now is to solve this crime as urgently as possible."

"It's a mean thing to fire at lawyers and human rights activists," Krasheninnikov said.

He warned against linking Markelov's assassination to the cases the man has defended in the past, including the murder of the Chechen girl Elza Kungayeva, and to the early release from prison of former army colonel Yuri Budanov, who has served a jail term on charges of killing Kungayeva.

"It's important now to prevent of a flaring of passions around this event," Krasheninnikov said.

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Source: Itar-Tass