11:24, 7 October 2015

Advocate disagrees with Ruslan Geremeev status in Nemtsov murder case

March in memory of Boris Nemtsov, Moscow, March 1, 2015. Photo by Vyacheslav Feraposhkin for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

In Boris Nemtsov murder case, Ruslan Geremeev is in the status of a witness, and he has not been put on the federal wanted list. Vadim Prokhorov, an advocate of the family members of the murdered politician, disagrees with the above facts, and he is seeking for the charge against Ruslan Geremeev in absentia.

Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on February 27 in Moscow. In connection with the crime, five natives of Chechnya and Ingushetia were detained, namely: Zaur Dadaev, Anzor Gubashev, Khamzat Bakhaev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov and Shagid Gubashev. All the five have been charged, but refuse to plead guilty.

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that on March 9, the "Kommersant" reported with reference to its own sources that Ruslan Geremeev was wanted for questioning as a witness in Boris Nemtsov murder case. However, Ruslan Geremeev left Russia, the "Rosbalt" reported with reference to its source. On April 24, law enforcers announced that Ruslan Geremeev became a suspect in Boris Nemtsov murder case. On May 22, it was reported about a new suspect in Boris Nemtsov murder case - Ruslan Mukhudinov, a resident of Chechnya.

Chechen investigators have attempted to hand over to Major Ruslan Geremeev, the commander of a battalion the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), a summon letter for questioning him as a witness. This was reported by the article entitled "Major Geremeev not found by order" prepared by Sergey Mashkin and published on the website of the "Kommersant".

According to Vadim Prokhorov, investigators have repeatedly promised him to come close to the suspected organizers of the crime and take appropriate measures, including sending a special team to Chechnya for their search and delivery to Moscow; however, none of those promises was ever translated into actions. Vadim Prokhorov has emphasized that he will seek to charge Geremeev and Mukhudinov in absentia and put them on the wanted list.

Vadim Prokhorov notes that Geremeev and Mukhudinov were not been assigned a formal status in Boris Nemtsov murder case and that they were not put on the federal wanted list, the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" reports today. In case if in the near future, the investigators fail to charge Geremeev in absentia of involvement in the murder of Boris Nemtsov, the advocate will file an appropriate motion to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" reports with reference to advocate Vadim Prokhorov.

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