The European Court of Human Rights concluded that the Russian investigation into the murder of Boris Nemtsov was "defective and ineffective". The claim to the ECtHR was filed by Nemtsov's daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova. The court ruled that Russia should pay Nemtsova 20,000 euros as compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
In its decision, the ECtHR noted that, despite the fact that the investigation into the murder was opened promptly and that the case against the alleged perpetrators was immediately sent to court, as well as five convictions, the Russian authorities were also obliged to investigate who ordered and organized the murder, however, this was not done.
According to the ECtHR, the investigation into those behind the murder was separated from the main criminal proceedings in 2016, despite the objections of Zhanna Nemtsova. Inaction in this case seriously affected the chances of establishing facts about the organizers of the crime. Here is what the ECtHR decision says:
“Allegations that the murder of Nemtsov may have been politically motivated and that certain state officials may have been involved in the events were not implausible. Nemtsov was a prominent politician, one of the leaders of the opposition in Russia, and was very critical of his opponents, including high-ranking officials of the Chechen Republic; the applicant consistently referred to abundant family and professional ties between the alleged perpetrators and various high-ranking officials of the Chechen Republic and reported threats which, he said, had come from Ramzan Kadyrov. The Russian authorities were under an obligation to investigate this line. <…> A number of persons who could provide information crucial to the case were never interrogated. The investigation did not work out a version with a political motive for the murder, and also did not provide another plausible explanation for the motives for the murder.”
Politician Boris Nemtsov was killed on the night of February 27, 2015 in the center of Moscow, on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, right next to the Kremlin walls. Unknown people shot him about 7 times, and then fled the scene in a white car. Later, the police found this car abandoned near the scene of the tragedy.
In 2017, the Moscow District Military Court delivered a verdict in the case of the murder of Nemtsov to the identified defendants in the case. Zaur Dadaev was sentenced to 20 years in prison, his accomplices: Anzor Gubashev – to 19 years in prison, Shadid Gubashev – to 16, Temirlan Eskerkhanov – to 14, Khamzat Bakhaev – to 11 years. Each of them was fined 100 thousand rubles, all convicts must serve their sentences in strict regime colonies. The court did not name the direct customer of the murder.
Since May 2014, Nemtsov has been followed by at least three members of the FSB killer group that poisoned Alexei Navalny, Dmitry Bykov and Vladimir Kara-Murza, The Insider found out .