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Stanislav Markelov: the new feudalism

As part of our project to bring the thought of Russian activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov (1974-2009) to international readers, we present his reflections on the “New Middle Ages” and the current crisis.

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Photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0: Daniel Mennerich / Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Ten years ago this January, activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were murdered in downtown Moscow. As it became clear later, this was a pinnacle moment in Russian ultra-nationalists’ campaign of terror. As a human rights lawyer, Markelov defended a series of high-profile cases throughout the 2000s, often connected to police and security force violence.