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Russian Ultranationalist Leader Jailed For Life


Russian Ultranationalist Leader Sentenced To Life In Prison
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WATCH: Russian Ultranationalist Leader In Court

A court in Moscow has sentenced Russian ultranationalist leader Ilya Goryachev to life in prison for organizing several high-profile killings.

Goryachev, 33, was found guilty last week by a jury in the Moscow City Court of ordering the murders of Judge Eduard Chuvashov in 2010, human-rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov in 2009, two Russian antifascist activists, a Tajik migrant, and an Azerbaijani.

Goryachev, the leader of the ultranationalist group Russian Image and an ideologue of the nationalist group BORN, was also found guilty of organizing an extremist group, establishing an illegal criminal group, and the illegal distribution of weapons.

Goryachev had pleaded not guilty.

He was extradited from Serbia in 2013 at Russia's request.

Goryachev fainted and collapsed while his sentence was being read, but was revived and listened to the rest of his sentence while sitting.

In April, two BORN members were sentenced to life in prison and one to 24 years in jail after convicting them of murder.

Two other BORN members -- Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis -- were sentenced in 2011 to life and 18 years in prison, respectively, for their involvement in the killing of Markelov and Baburova.

Based on reporting by rapsinews.ru and Interfax

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