The ‘ultranationalist‘ couple, Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis, have been convicted of the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta freelance reporter Anastasia Baburova.  Both pleaded not guilty and say they are scapegoats. The first verdict was rejected by the judge for being ‘unclear‘, and the second indicated that the pair could have had ‘unidentified accomplices‘.  Court hearings have opened for Vasily Yakemenko’s defamation case against Oleg Kashin, the reporter who accused him of being behind the assault that left him in a coma last November.  A number of May Day protests will be held by various pro and anti-Kremlin groups this Sunday – United Russia’s gathering plans to shout slogans of ‘Medvedev! Putin! Go Russia!‘  Media regulator Roskomnadzor has accused RFE/RL of violating Russian election law for an election-time report in March that cited opinion polls – but the news service says that the polls were from a previous election.