MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The group of accomplices charged with the murder of Boris Nemtsov will request trial by jury, their lawyers have said on Tuesday.

"Of course, we will request trial by jury," Roza Magomedova, the lawyer of one of the accused, Tamerlan Eskerekhanov, told TASS. "We will file a corresponding petition."

Under Russian legislation if any of the accused asks for trial by jury, the court will be obliged to sustain the request. At present at least two of the accused — Zaur Dadayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov — said they want to be tried by jurors. The other accomplices are expected to do so, too.

The Investigative Committee on Tuesday brought final charges against four men it regards as accomplices in the murder of Boris Nemtsov. Zaur Dadayev, Shadid Gubashev, Khamzat Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov were accused under part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code (premeditated murder by a group of persons committed for material gain or by contract). The lawyer of the fifth defendant — Anzor Gubashev — is currently away on an assignment. His client will hear the charges later.

Magomedova said the Investigative Committee is through with the investigation of five accomplices. "That the final charges have been brought against them means that all investigative actions regarding our clients have been completed."

A source familiar with progress in the investigation has said the trial is expected to begin in early spring.

"It is expected that the plaintiffs and the accused will study the case by the end of February and it will be handed over to a court of law in March," the source said.

The Investigative Committee has said another suspected accomplice in the murder, Beslan Shavanov, blew up himself, when police tried to detain him in Grozny.

The man whom the Investigative Committee suspects of putting out a contract on Nemtsov and masterminding the murder, Ruslan Mukhudinov, is on an international wanted list. Mukhidinov, as well as other potential suspects yet to be identified, will continue to be investigated and eventually tried separately.

Nemtsov was gunned down in central Moscow on February 27.