06:22, 24 September 2015

Khamzat Bakhaev declines pre-trial agreement with investigators in case of Boris Nemtsov's murder

Law enforcers lead one of the defendants in the case of Nemtsov's murder through the corridor of the court. Moscow, April 23, 2015. Photo by Yuliya Buslavskaya for the "Caucasian Knot"

In the case of the murder of politician Boris Nemtsov, one of the defendants has declined the offer for reclassification of the charges in exchange for his confession to the fact that he was aware of the committed crime, but did not provide the police with the information against the alleged accomplices.

According to a source close to the investigation, yet in early August, one of the field investigators engaged in the investigation informed Bakhaev that the charge against him of complicity in the murder could be reclassified to the charge under Article 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (concealment of crimes), stipulating up to two years of imprisonment. In the case of the above reclassification of the charge, Bakhaev would be automatically released from custody, and at the trial, he could expect to be completely discharged from custody in view of the period of time already spent by him in custody.

The field investigator has noted that for the reclassification of the charges, Bakhaev, who denied his involvement in the Boris Nemtsov's murder, had to admit that he was aware of the committed crime, but did not provide the police with the information against the alleged accomplices, the "Kommersant" reports.

According to the "Kommersant", Khamzat Bakhaev and Shagid Gubashev rented together a house in the village of Kozino in the Moscow Region. In their rented house, they were occasionally visited by Anzor Gubashev, who, according to the investigators, drove the killer to the place of the crime. According to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), Khamzat Bakhaev and Shagid Gubashev helped the killers of Boris Nemtsov flee after the crime by providing them with their housing.

On September 22, Khamzat Bakhaev decided to decline the proposed agreement with the investigators.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that, according to the source, earlier, Gubashev has retracted his confession and asked to re-interrogate him.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.