MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Two Russian nationalists on Thursday were convicted for the 2009 murders of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.

RIA Novosti reported that Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis, both linked to a banned ultranationalist group called Russky Obraz, were found guilty of the murders. Markelov, a friend of the assassinated journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and Baburova, who worked for the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta, were gunned down in January 2009 in central Moscow.

Markelov, a prominent lawyer, was killed shortly after he gave a news conference devoted to the release of a Russian army colonel who allegedly killed a Chechen woman in 2000. Markelov was the lawyer for the woman's family.

The pair, who married in custody, was also convicted of forming an illegal group and arms possession. It was reported that Tikhonov attempted suicide on Tuesday, and Khasis made a similar attempt on Wednesday.

The Moscow City Court said it would hand down their sentences on May 5.

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