Five found guilty of killing Boris Nemtsov

Found guilty in the murder. From left to right: Tamirlan Eskerkhanov, brothers Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Zaur Dadayev and Khamzat Bakhayev. Photo by Vlad Dokshin, Novaya Gazeta

All five men accused of killing Boris Nemtsov were found guilty by a jury in Moscow. They can face life imprisonment.

Politician Boris Nemtsov was killed late at night on 7 February, 2015 in the vicinity of the Kremlin.

The suspects were identified and arrested by early March 2015. Moreover, their confessions were videotaped.

Then problems arose:

– Access to videos was denied

– All attempts to question the high ranking Chechen law enforcement officers close to Ramzan Kadyrov failed

– A massive and expensive campaign in the media and social networks was staged, meant to discredit the “unprofessional” investigation

– In court the Chechen officers were not questioned “because they refused to open doors”.

The lawyers of the victims – Boris Nemtsov`s family – believe the prosecution and the judge shared a common goal – to convince the jury of the following:

– Ruslan Mukhitdinov, an ordinary driver from Chechnya, decided to kill Nemtsov out of  sudden hate

– For that goal, he acquired USD 200 000, weapons, and organized a group of fellow countrymen

– They killed Nemtsov but failed to escape

According to Nemtsov`s family lawyers, the aim was to detract the jury from the paymasters and organizers of the crime.

The case cannot be considered closed – Novaya Gazeta reports.

Investigation of the paymasters and organizers is likely to be shelved, just as in the case of the Anna Politkovskaya killing.