22,000 on march in Moscow, Boris Nemtsov Square in front of Russian Embassy in Prague
The rally of thousands in Moscow and Boris Nemtsov Square in front of the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic are actions in connection with the fifth anniversary of the assassination of this famous Russian opposition politician.
Boris Nemtsov was shot dead right near the Kremlin walls on February 27, 2015. Here is the report of Radio Liberty of that day.
Five natives of Chechnya have been convicted of the murder of a politician, but the customer for the murder has not yet been established.
Moscow
On February 29 in the center of Moscow a march took place in memory of Boris Nemtsov.
According to estimates by independent media, more than 22,000 people took part in it. The newspaper Kommersant said this was the first demonstration that the authorities allowed to be held in 2020, and this made it larger than usual.
The police said that there were exactly half the number of participants.
The march participants carried posters and chanted slogans about the need to investigate Nemtsov’s murder and punish those who ordered his death. Many called for an end to political repression in Russia, advocated for political prisoners.
People also said that they were against the constitutional amendments proposed by President Vladimir Putin.
• Putin bidding to stay in power forever?
Prague
On the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the official opening ceremony of a square was held in Prague, which will now be named after Nemtsov.
On this square, which was previously called Pod Kaštany, the Russian Embassy is located. This is the only building that is located on this square, and now it will have to change its address.
The opening ceremony was attended by the daughter of Boris Nemtsov, Zhanna. She thanked the Prague authorities for the decision and called it important for Russians and for herself.
“With this gesture, Prague will join other cities that thus remind of us of the severe political situation in modern Russia,” said Prague Mayor Zdenek Grzyb at the opening ceremony.
There are already squares and streets named after Boris Nemtsov near Russian embassies in Kyiv, Vilnius and Washington.
Renaming the area is a complicated procedure, and it took four years from the authorities of Prague.
The topographic commission rejected the request of activists several times, some local residents also protested, as at the beginning they also intended to rename the adjacent street.
“No one was opposed to perpetuating the name of Boris Nemtsov, but residents of Pod Kaštany would have to face many technical difficulties after renaming,” explained Czech journalist Ondřej Soukup.
As a result, activists and city authorities made a compromise and renamed not the whole busy Pod Kaštany street, which houses residential buildings and diplomatic missions, but only the square in front of the Russian embassy in the Czech Republic.
