Kremlin refuses to help international inquiry into Nemtsov's murder
International investigations into the murder of Boris Nemtsov should not be conducted in Russia, the press secretary of the Russian president said in response to the claims of the OSCE, which pointed to Russian authorities' refusal to give access to the case files.
Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was killed in the centre of Moscow on February 27, 2015. Five natives of Chechnya and Ingushetia were sentenced in the case of his assassination.
At the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Margaret Soderfelt, the Assembly Vice-President, presented her report on the inquiry into Nemtsov's murder. She said that Russian authorities are hiding both the motives of the crime and the organizers and customers thereof, the "Novaya Gazeta" reported on February 20.
Ms Soderfelt has stated that the Russian Embassy to Denmark denied her access to the case files, arguing that she was not involved in the particular trial. Besides, the case files contain information labelled "secret", said the Embassy.
The lawyers, who represent the interests of Zhanna Nemtsova, Boris' daughter, believe that the reference to the "secret" information is only an excuse in order not to give out the case files. They recalled that the trial was open. "The argument that the case files allegedly contain state secrets is utter nonsense. I participated in all court sessions and can state that the case files contain not a single document labelled as 'state secrets'," the "Kommersant" has quoted Vadim Prokhorov, one of Zhanna Nemtsova's advocates, today.
In the context of the OSCE's statements, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, has stated that the inquiry into the murder of politician Boris Nemtsov should be carried out only by Russian investigative authorities. "No international investigations can and should be conducted in the territory of the Russian Federation," the TASS has quoted Mr Peskov as saying today.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 22, 2020 at 11:39 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.