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Jury to deliver verdict on Nemtsov murder case on June 27

Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in downtown Moscow on February 27, 2015

Portrait of Boris Nemtsov Mikhail Tereshenko/TASS

Portrait of Boris Nemtsov

© Mikhail Tereshenko/TASS

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. The jury will retire to the consultation room on June 27 to reach a verdict on five defendants on the Boris Nemtsov murder case, the chief judge of the Moscow District Military Court said.

"Now I address you with the jury instructions. I should note that the jury instructions will take about two and a half hours, after which you’ll have to retire to the consultation room to reach the verdict. If you fail to issue the verdict unanimously, you’ll be able to start the voting not earlier than three hours later. Taking into account that it will be late night already, I will articulate only part of the jury instructions and will continue on Tuesday, June 27," the judge said.

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He explained to the jury that each of them had to take a decision based on their inner conviction, lucid mind and the notes they had taken during the court session. The judge reiterated to the jury what the defendants had been accused of and specified what penalty they would carry in case they were found guilty.

On June 27, the jury will answer 26 questions, the main of which will be whether Zaur Dadayev is guilty of Nemtsov’s murder that he carried out with the other defendants. The jury will also have to answer a question on whether they deserve leniency in case they are found guilty. Under law, defendants that are considered to be deserving leniency, according to the jury, cannot be sentenced to a maximal term of imprisonment, which would be a life sentence in this case.

Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in downtown Moscow on February 27, 2015. Five persons were arrested 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").

According to investigators, the suspected organizer of the murder is Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer of the Chechen "Sever" battalion. Mukhudinov was 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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