Killers of Boris Nemtsov, Russian government opposition activist, sentenced to long prison terms

A court in Russia on Thursday sentenced five Chechen men to long prison terms for the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a critic of the Russian government. However, Mr. Nemtsov's allies say the masterminds behind the murder have yet to be identified. According to Agence France-Presse, the judge sentenced Zaur Dadayev, the shooter, to 20 years in prison, while his four accomplices received sentences ranging from 11 to 19 years. After a lengthy trial, which supporters of Mr. Nemtsov claim failed to identify and punish the orchestrators of the murder, a jury in June this year found the five guilty of killing Mr. Nemtsov in exchange for a $250,000 reward. The prosecution had requested longer sentences for all the defendants, including Zaur Dadayev, a former member of the internal military units in Chechnya. Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on the evening of February 27, 2015, while walking home with his girlfriend near the walls of the Kremlin. This was the most significant open political murder in Russia since Vladimir Putin came to power seventeen years ago. All five men, including Zaur Dadayev, are from the troubled Chechnya region in the North Caucasus, and are named Shadid and Anzor Gubashev, Timurlan Asgarhanov, and Hamza Bakayev. Boris Nemtsov's family and friends say that individuals close to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, who are linked to this murder, have not been investigated. During the trial, the judge refused to summon Ramzan Kadyrov to testify. The lawyer for the Nemtsov family told reporters after the court session, "Neither the planners nor the organizers of this murder have been charged. No one doubts that the close circle of Ramzan Kadyrov has played a role in this case. This case is at least connected to Grozny or even higher officials." His reference was to the possible involvement of senior Russian government officials. Ilya Yashin, a close ally of Mr. Nemtsov and an opposition politician, criticized the prison term given to Zaur Dadayev, stating, "We expected him to be sentenced to at least life in prison. 20 years for killing a human being is trivial." He added, "As long as the planners and organizers of this murder are free, it cannot be accepted that this murder case is closed." Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Russian president, responded to reporters' questions about the possibility of identifying and arresting the masterminds of this murder, saying, "There is undoubtedly still hope." Agence France-Presse recalls that the criminals have always denied involvement in this murder, and some have retracted their initial confessions, claiming they confessed under torture. The prosecution states that investigations into this murder are still ongoing and they are seeking to identify the mastermind, who apparently has fled. The suspect, named Ruslan Mukhodinov, was previously a driver for the commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs forces in Chechnya, the same units that Zaur Dadayev served in. Investigators say Mukhodinov provided the reward money for this murder to the criminals. However, they have never clarified why this low-ranking police officer in Chechnya wanted to kill Mr. Nemtsov and where he obtained the money. The Russian Investigative Committee, which typically handles major crimes, stated in a statement after the court's ruling, "Investigations to gather information about the organizers of Boris Nemtsov's murder continue."