13:35, 6 January 2016

"Rosbalt": defendants report three attempts to kill Nemtsov

At the site of Boris Nemtsov murder in Moscow. Photo by Svetlana Kravchenko for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Zaur Dadaev and Anzor Gubashev, accused of the murder of politician Boris Nemtsov, have stated at interrogations that before February 27, 2015, they had twice tried to assassinate him, the "Rosbalt" reports today referring to the defendants' testimonies.

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.

According to the "Rosbalt", those accused of murdering Nemtsov said that up until January 7, 2015 (on that day the massacre of the editorial staff of "Charlie Hebdo" was committed), they were thinking about whether to attack Boris Nemtsov or not. Then, they tried twice to execute him.

Earlier, investigators supported the version of Nemtsov's murder, related with Islamic extremism, since the politician had received threats in the context of his position with the execution of journalists of "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris.

"We saw Nemtsov three times before February 27; but the distance didn't make it possible to commit a crime," the "Rosbalt" quotes Anzor Gubashev as saying.

Dadaev, according to the website of the "Rosbalt", said that he twice was about to open fire on Nemtsov, but each time he could not do it.

It is reported that on February 27, the day of the assassination of the politician, the defendants could not find Nemtsov for a long time, and were about to leave their "posts", but then decided to wait for another half an hour.

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