article_snippet: In January 2009, a masked man shot and killed Markelov, a Russian human rights lawyer known for a masked man work on abuses by the Russian military in Chechnya.
article_snippet: Markelov was known for Markelov work on high-profile cases.
article_snippet: Markelov represented the family of a Chechen woman killed by a former Russian colonel in March 2000.
article_snippet: Markelov held a news conference hours before Markelov death opposing the early release of Col. Yury Budanov, who had been convicted of strangling a Chechen teenage girl and was freed after serving eight years of a 10-year sentence.