NEWSWATCH: Boris Nemtsov: Liberal martyr: Russia’s rising political hatred claims a victim: a scrupulously honest reformist leader
[“Boris Nemtsov: Liberal martyr: Russia’s rising political hatred claims a victim: a scrupulously honest reformist leader” – The Economist – February 28, 2015]
The Economist covers the assassination of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov in Moscow.
‘NEMTSOV is a national traitor! Execute the traitor!’ wrote a commenter a few days ago, on an internet petition to strip Boris Nemtsov of his mandate as a deputy of the local council in the provincial town of Yaroslavl. On his Facebook page, Mr Nemtsov quipped right back: ‘I just don’t understand one thing. Are they collecting signatures to strip me of my mandate, or to execute me?’
The answer came just before midnight on February 27th, when Mr Nemtsov, a charismatic opposition politician who led the reform process while serving in Boris Yeltsin’s government in the 1990s, was assassinated on a bridge just steps away from the Kremlin. Mr Nemtsov was shot with four bullets fired from a passing car. The area is infested with video cameras, police, security services and secret agents charged with protecting Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The location of the shooting and its brazen nature raise questions.
Given the level of security in the vicinity of the Kremlin, it is hard to imagine why Mr Nemtsov’s killers would have picked that spot for the shooting, unless they had reason to believe they would be able to escape. The assassins did not try to cover their traces; they did not shoot the woman who was walking with Mr Nemtsov. …
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[featured image is file photo]