MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on the court’s decision concerning the politician Boris Nemtsov’s murder. However, Peskov told reporters he hoped that the murder masterminds would be found.

"We don’t comment on court decisions," the Kremlin spokesman said when asked for a response to the ruling.

When commenting on the possibility of finding the crime’s mastermind, Peskov said that "there is hope that it will be done."

The presidential spokesman was also asked if Chechnya’s law enforcement agencies, where Nemtsov murder perpetrators had served, would face any consequences. "This situation has absolutely nothing to do with the Kremlin’s agenda," he said. "I doubt that the question is correct since there is no connection with their (the convicts) professional activities, so I don’t think it is correct to put the question this way," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Court ruling

On Thursday, Moscow’s District Military Court found guilty all the five defendants in the case of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov’s murder and gave them 11 to 20-year sentences in a high-security penal colony and a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,659) each. The decision was made by Judge Yuri Zhitnikov based on the jury’s guilty verdict. However, the court took into account the time they had already spent in custody since March 2015. Material evidence has been handed over to the Russian Investigative Committee which continues to look into the criminal case.