Novaya Gazeta article on Nemtsov murder raises new questions
Russian independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has published a lengthy article entitled "How Boris Nemtsov was killed”. The authors of this article belong to the investigations departments of the newspaper, and wrote that the name of Nemtsov’s murderer was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 2nd of last year. The article also mentions that the report of the Director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, stated that the perpetrators of the crime were members of the Chechen battalion named "North", who were part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The article suggests that the group in Moscow was led by the deputy of the battalion commander, Ruslan Geremeev.
In the authors’ opinion, the high speed at which the crime was investigated is a result of two factors: the first of which was the fact that the president asked the question “who dared?” in relation to the murder, and the second factor was the espionage among the leadership of the Chechen Republic. The article states that the "Moscow law enforcement officers are very irritated" by the behavior of the armed representatives of the Chechen leadership.
The authors also published their conclusions with regard to the execution of the murder, and reasons as to why the killers did not hide obvious evidence of the crime. The authors raise the question, which in recent months has repeatedly been asked on Russian social networks, as to why the leadership of the Chechen Republic is allowed to keep their own armed groups in Moscow. The publication also stated that a group of Chechen law enforcement officers in Moscow not only openly display their weapons, but also have identity cards which allow their cars not to be inspected.
The one year anniversary of Boris Nemtsov's assassination is February 27th, and demonstrations in Nemtsov's memory will be held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities.