17:34, 1 March 2016

Arrest of figurants in Nemtsov murder case extended until May 28

Rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov dedicated to the anniversary of his murder, Moscow, February 27, 2016. Photo by Vyacheslav Feraposhkin for the "Caucasian Knot"

Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has ruled to extend the arrest of five figurants in Boris Nemtsov murder case - Zaur Dadaev, Anzor Gubashev, Khamzat Bakhaev, Shagid Gubashev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov. In their turn, the defendants said that the case was being investigated under the pressure on the figurants.

Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on February 27, 2015 in central Moscow. In connection with the murder, five natives of Chechnya and Ingushetia were detained; the figurants in the case are also Ruslan Geremeev and Ruslan Mukhudinov, officers of the Chechen battalion "Sever" (North). Relatives and supporters of Boris Nemtsov believe that the real customers of the murder have not yet been established.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that investigators had asked the MCC to extend the arrest of the above figurants until May 28.

During the today's MCC session, the prosecutor Vadim Kalugin and the investigator Alexander Dagaev have supported the petition earlier lodged to the court and asking the judge to "leave the defendants at the SIZO (pre-trial prison)," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"A thorough investigation of the case is time consuming and requires a large number of operative and investigative activities," Vadim Kalugin said at the session.

In their turn, the defendants said that the "case is being investigated under the pressure on the figurants." Zaur Dadaev drew the court's attention to the fact that "the prosecution is based on his confessions." "But my testimonies were given under pressure," he said.

However, the presiding judge decided to satisfy the investigators' petition.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Yulia Buslavskaya

Source: CK correspondent