A court in Moscow has charged two men in connection with the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov.
The two, named as Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev, are of Chechen origin, according to Russian media reports. Three other suspects in the case also appeared before the court on Sunday. Nemtsov was killed on a bridge within sight of the Kremlin as he was walking with his girlfriend on the night of 27 February. The murder shocked Russia.
The former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, 55, was shot in the back four times. He was buried in Moscow on Tuesday. Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev are both accused of organising and carrying out the murder.
The suspects were bundled through a back door of the court by armed guards in balaclavas. Little is known about the men, but reports say Zaur Dadayev served in a battalion of interior ministry troops in Chechnya. The other suspects include Mr Gubashev’s younger brother Shagid Gubashev and two men named only as Bakhayev and Eskerkhanov.
President Vladimir Putin has condemned Nemtsov’s murder and called for an end to “shameful” political killings in Russia. But leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny accused the Kremlin of ordering the assassination to cow the opposition amid Russia’s mounting economic problems.
