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Defense lawyers ask Supreme Court to refer Nemtsov murder case for rehearing

On July 13, Moscow’s District Military Court found all five of the defendants guilty of Nemtsov’s murder and handed them 11-to 20-year sentences in a maximum-security penal colony

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Lawyers for the persons sentenced to lengthy terms for the murder of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov have appealed the verdict, they told TASS on Wednesday.

"We request the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to cancel the verdict and to refer the case for rehearing, starting with selection of the jury," said Anna Byurchieva, a lawyer for Temirlan Eskerkhanov.

The Supreme Court said that the rest convicts, including the killer Zaur Dadayev, had submitted appeals as well.

In the meantime, the claimant’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, told TASS that Zhanna Nemtsova, the politician’s daughter, had not yet taken a decision if she would appeal against the verdict.

"I think we will have it sorted out by Monday," he said.

On July 13, Moscow’s District Military Court found all five of the defendants guilty of Nemtsov’s murder and handed them 11-to 20-year sentences in a maximum-security penal colony. The decision was made by Judge Yury Zhitnikov based on the jury’s guilty verdict.

That being said, the final sentence for the defendants is as follows: Zaur Dadayev received 20 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,659), Anzor Gubashev - 19 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rubles; Shadid Gubashev - 16 years behind bars and a fine of 100,000 rubles, Temirlan Eskerkhanov - 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 rubles, and Khamzat Bakhayev - 11 years behind bars and a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Nemtsov’s murder

Boris 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 men were arrested on suspicion of murdering the politician: Zaur Dadayev, Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev. Another suspect, Beslan Shavanov, put up resistance to police and blew himself up.