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Stuck in Chechnya
The Nemtsov family’s lawyer talks about problems in the murder case
The investigation into the murder of politician Boris Nemtsov has now been underway for more than a month, but Russia’s Investigative Committee has yet to release any details about the case. Information has appeared in numerous media reports, but much of it is contradictory. Vadim Prokhorov, the Nemtsov family’s lawyer, told The New Times what he knows about the criminal investigation.
In the interview, Prokhorov (who also advises The New Times on legal issues) repeated that investigators have encountered their “most substantial problems” in Chechnya. There seem to be two main issues:
- Police have yet to question Ruslan Geremeyev, a relative of several influential Chechens and a former colleague of Zaur Dadayev, the chief suspect in Nemtsov’s murder. (The news agency RBC, meanwhile, claims that Geremeyev has in fact been questioned.)
- The only suspect police actually tried to detain inside Chechnya was a man named Beslan Shavanov, who died in the process. According to official reports, he blew himself up with a grenade. Prokhorov is convinced that Shavanov’s pursuers are the ones who killed him.
Prokhorov says Zaur Dadayev, who served in a Chechen police battalion, was found to be in possession of documents identifying him as an active officer of the Interior Ministry. Officially, he was on leave until February 28 (the day after Nemtsov was shot). Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, another suspect in the case, was also found with an Interior Ministry ID badge, apparently having worked for the Ministry as a security guard or a private bodyguard. Prokhorov says he doesn’t know if the identifying documents reportedly discovered are genuine or not.
According to Prokhorov, there are eight investigators working on the case. The media has learned that the investigative team is headed by Major General Igor Krasnov, who solved the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.
Vadim Prokhorov also provided some new details about Boris Nemtsov’s murder. Nemtsov was initially shot three times and fell to the ground. When he tried to rise, the gunman fired twice more. “The shots, five bullets in total, were fatal,” Prokhorov said. (It was previously reported that Nemtsov had been shot four times). The killer apparently used a silencer. Anna Duritskaya, who was walking alongside Nemtsov at the time, thought the gunshots were firecrackers.
Based on everything I’ve seen in the media and elsewhere, it’s obvious to me that the investigation’s biggest problems are in Chechnya. And I don’t understand why the federal authorities permit this situation. It’s my impression that the investigation is experiencing substantial problems in Chechnya.