Russian opposition wants international probe into Nemtsov’s murder

“We plan to initiate soon an international investigation into Nemtsov’s murder. We believe political-administrative obstacles to the ongoing investigation, aimed at identifying the people who organized and ordered this murder, are being created in Russia. We are, therefore, interested in an international investigation. It’s the only chance that the people who organized and ordered the murder will be identified,” Nemtsov’s former ally Ilya Yashin told journalists in Vilnius on May 22.

The representative of the opposition Republican Party of Russia – People’s Freedom Party (RPR-PARNAS) said the initial probe in Nemtsov’s murder was “really professional” but later the investigation team and its head were replaced.

According to Yashin, the detained executors only “pulled the trigger.” He has no doubt that a deeper investigation would lead to Chechen leaders.

“We believe that those people who are now detained were involved in Nemtsov’s murder. We believe the investigators managed to establish a fairly clear line of suspects. We think the blood traces from the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge in Moscow, where Nemtsov was murdered, are leading to the top offices in the Chechen Republic,” Yashin said.

“Vladimir Putin must at least assume political responsibility for this murder as he’s created such a political system that allows such a demonstrative and brutal murder we consider to be an act of violence and terror,” the Russian opposition representative said.

The opposition will continue Nemtsov’s work, Yashin said, adding that it will continue collecting information about the Russian army’s ongoing actions in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

The report that aims to prove that was on May 22 presented by Yashin and other opposition representatives in Vilnius. Yashin also said he was not afraid of being also killed because of his activity, saying that publicity might protect people the Kremlin sees as inconvenient.

“Why should I be afraid in my own country, if my country is ruled by a bandit? It doesn’t mean we have to run and hide. If we are afraid, our lives will be at even greater risk. I am convinced that if we try to make Russia a normal European country, an open country, if we take a public position and call a spade a spade, if we speak openly about everything, then it will give us more protection,” Yashin said.

Five Muslim men from Chechnya have been detained for Nemtsov’s murder, but the opposition says the real organizers of this crime will probably never be identified and found as they would reveal their connections with people loyal to the Kremlin.
The main suspect in this case is Zaur Dadayev, a former deputy commander of the Sever battalion accountable to Chechen President and Putin’s ally Ramzan Kadyrov.

“It’s hardly imaginable that all these people acted without at least Kadyrov’s order,” Yashin said on May 22.