Member of Sever battalion Mukhutdinov charged in absentia in Nemtsov murder – lawyer
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) – Investigators have charged in absentia Ruslan Mukhutdinov, a member of the Sever battalion, in the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.
“Last Friday, investigators charged Mukhutdinov in absentia with organizing the Nemtsov murder. He was put on the federal wanted persons list,” Vadim Prokhorov, a lawyer for the victims, told Interfax on Monday.
A source in Moscow familiar with the situation told Interfax on Friday that investigators from the central administration of the Central Investigative Committee had tried to summon Mukhutdinov and Ruslan Geremeyev, deputy commander of the Sever battalion of the Interior Ministry of Chechnya, for questioning, but their family members refused to take the summons.
“It’s a good thing that the investigation is going in the right direction, but it is lamentable that the investigators could not bring themselves to bring charges against Geremeyev,” the lawyer said.
Prokhorov believes bringing charges against Ruslan Mukhutdinov “is the same as bringing charges against Geremeyev.”
Prokhorov earlier said more than once that investigators intend to question Geremeyev and Mukhutdinov as people who may be involved in the politician’s murder. The victims’ request for the questioning of other persons, including Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, was declined.
The Moscow Basmanny Court on October 14 declined Prokhorov’s complaint about investigators’ actions. The victim and the defense lawyers for suspected perpetrator Zaur Dadayev disagree with this decision. Its legitimacy will be determined by the Moscow City Court.
Nemtsov was assassinated on Moscow’s Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge on February 27, 2015. A criminal case was opened based on the articles of the Criminal Code dealing with murder and illegal weapons turnover. Five people implicated in the case (suspected perpetrators Zaur Dadayev, Anzor Gubashev and their suspected accomplices Bakhayev, Shadid Gubashev and Timerlan Eskerkhanov) remain in custody under a Basmanny court decision.