MOSCOW, December 16 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld the detention of Ilya Goryachev, who is charged with involvement in a notorious extremist movement and complicity in the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, the court’s press service told RAPSI.

The court thus dismissed an appeal filed by Goryachev’s attorney seeking to release him from custody. Goryachev will remain in jail until March 8, 2015.  On December 22, he will be questioned in the Moscow Regional Court.

The extremist group BORN is charged with racketeering, illegal weapons trafficking, and several counts of homicide - including the deaths of Moscow City Court judge Eduard Chuvashov, attorney Stanislav Markelov, and several leaders of Russian anti-fascist movements.

Chuvashov was shot and killed in the stairwell of his Moscow apartment building in 2010. During his career with the Moscow City Court, he reviewed over 20 high-profile criminal cases, some of which involved murder on ethnic grounds.

Markelov was shot and killed in Moscow on Jan. 19, 2009. According to the investigation, Markelov was murdered for his active participation in an anti-fascist movement.

Goryachev was placed on the international wanted list and in November 2013 extradited from Serbia. He was detained in Russia after the extradition.

Later, it became known that Goryachev's implication in Chuvashov's murder has not been confirmed. However, the investigators found that other BORN members were implicated in this crime, official spokesman for the Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said.

Nikita Tikhonov, who is deemed to be one of the group’s leaders, was convicted and sentenced in May 2011 to life in prison for the murder of Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova. His accomplice Yevgenia Khasis was given 18 years behind bars.

In late September, the Moscow City Court sentenced Tikhonov, who pleaded guilty to killing federal judge Eduard Chuvashov, to 18 years in prison.