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Suspect in Nemtsov’s murder denies guilt

One of suspects in Boris Nemtsov’s killing, Anzor Gubashev, once again denied his guilt in the crime and called the late Russian politician a brave man

Anzor Gubashev Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS

Anzor Gubashev

© Mikhail Pochuyev/TASS

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. One of suspects in Boris Nemtsov’s killing, Anzor Gubashev, once again denied his guilt in the crime and called the late Russian politician a brave man.

"I want you to convey condolences to the mother of the killed man and say "thanks so much" for having raised such a brave son. I found out about this already here, while in a cell," Gubashev said, explaining that he has read Nemtsov’s book "Confessions of a Rebel."

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"He was a very brave man, and he was killed for this courage," Gubashev said in his last plea in the Moscow District Military Court.

Gubashev also apologized before the killed politician’s relatives for his earlier statements, noting that he is ready to "bear responsibility for everything that he has said in line with Sharia and all laws." The defendant insisted that he is not tied to the murder.

Other defendants Shadid Gubashev and Khamzat Bakhayev also denied their guilt in their last plea. The hearing is ongoing.

Nemtsov, former deputy prime minister under then-President Boris Yeltsin, co-chairman of the Parnas party and lawmaker of the Yaroslavl regional legislature, was gunned down in downtown Moscow on February 27, 2015. Five persons were arrested on March 8 last year on suspicion of murdering the politician: Zaur Dadayev, Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev.

Depending on their role and degree of their involvement, they are pressed with charges under part 2, article 105 ("Contract Murder Committed by an Organized Group") and part 3, article 222 of Russia’s Criminal Code ("Illegal Acquisition, Transfer, Storage, Transportation and Possession of Firearms and Ammunition by an Organized Group"). Article 105 carries a punishment of up to life imprisonment.

The suspected organizer of the murder is Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer of the Chechen "Sever" battalion. Mukhudinov has been charged in absentia. He has been on the international wanted list since November 2015. A criminal case against him is investigated separately.

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