ECHR condemns Russia over ‘ineffective’ probe into murder of Boris Nemtsov

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Russia’s investigation into the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in 2015 was ineffective.

“It remains unclear as to whether any meaningful attempt was made <...> to identify any specific motive for the actions of a person or people who, according to the investigators, could have offered a reward to the perpetrators to kill Mr Nemtsov. <...>The foregoing considerations are sufficient for the Court to conclude that the domestic authorities failed to conduct an adequate and effective investigation of Mr Nemtsov’s assassination,” the judgement reads.

The court awarded Nemtsov’s daughter Zhanna, who filed the lawsuit back in 2015, €20,000 in damages.

Defence lawyer Vadim Prokhorov is confident the ruling will play a big role in the future, when Russia returns to complying with ECHR rulings and investigating political murders.

“Someday Russia will return to the Council of Europe. And that’s when this ruling by the ECHR will be invaluable,” he said.

Boris Nemtsov, a prominent Russian opposition politician and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on 28 February 2015 in Moscow, near the Kremlin. A man named Zaur Dadaev was found guilty of assassinating Nemtsov and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017. Four more people were also accused as part of the same case and sentenced to prison terms from 11 to 19 years each. The mastermind behind the assassination has never been found.

On 11 June 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a law stating Russia will no longer comply with the ECHR decisions issued after 15 March 2022. The Council of Europe claimed at the time that Russia owed €74 million in compensations awarded by ECHR rulings.