Nemtsov allies fear killers will never have to face justice

Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was one of President Vladimir Putin's loudest critics. Photo / AP

Moscow police were yesterday hunting for the killers of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition politician who was gunned down in the shadow of the Kremlin's towers yesterday, but his friends and political partners say they fear the real killers will never be brought to justice.

Many of those close to Nemtsov believe the 55-year-old former deputy prime minister was killed either for his opposition to the Kremlin, or by shady nationalist forces reacting to a long propaganda campaign on state-controlled television calling the political opposition traitors. Russia's investigative committee said it was working on several different theories, including Nemtsov being used as a "sacrificial victim" to destabilise Russia, Islamist extremism, the Ukraine conflict or a personal issue.

Absent from a list of possible leads released by spokesman Vladimir Markin was what most people saw as the most likely reason for his death: that Nemtsov was one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics.

Nemtsov, a star politician in the 1990s who was once seen as a potential successor to Boris Yeltsin, had been marginalised in recent years, but was due to lead a major protest march today. Just hours before his death he appeared on a radio programme calling on Muscovites to protest against the economic crisis and the war in Ukraine. He was working on a report detailing evidence of Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict, which the Kremlin denies.

Nemtsov was shot four times from a passing car in one of the most carefully watched parts of Moscow, just metres from one of the Kremlin towers.

At the spot where Nemtsov was killed, a steady stream of mourners came to lay flowers. Sergei Mitrokhin, of the liberal Yabloko Party, said the killing was a blow to all of Russia: "If political views are punished in this way, this country has no future."

Organisers cancelled the protest march and said they would instead meet in central Moscow and march to the spot where Nemtsov was killed.

Putin has taken the investigation into Nemtsov's murder under "personal control" and also sent a telegram of condolences to the slain politician's 87-year-old mother. Putin said of Nemtsov: "He had the task of working in important jobs during the difficult transition period our country was going through. He always stated his positions and argued his points directly and honestly."

There did appear to be an element of genuine shock at the killing among the authorities, with television programmes devoted to the killing featuring some grudging praise for Nemtsov.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said: "Boris Nemtsov became one of the most talented politicians in the period of democratic transformations in our country. Up to his very last day, he remained a bright personality, a principled man."

But the eulogies from top officials contrasted sharply with previous comments by Putin that the political opposition is a "fifth column" trying to destroy Russia, and repeated television smears calling the opposition traitors.

Anatoly Chubais, a businessman and former liberal politician, said the country was entering a dangerous period. "A demand for hatred and aggression has been created. Several days ago, people were marching with banners saying let's destroy the fifth column. Today, Nemtsov is killed. Let's stop and think about what might happen tomorrow."

4 Lines of inquiry

1.The Russian state body charged with investigating especially serious crimes said it was focusing on several main scenarios, including that the murder was carried out "as a provocation to destabilise the political situation in the country" in which "Nemtsov may have become a kind of sacrificial victim for those who disdain no methods in order to achieve their political aims".

2. The killing was linked to Islamic extremism. This theory was being examined, the committee said, because investigators "had evidence that Nemtsov had received threats in connection with his position on the shooting of journalists from the editorial department of the Charlie Hebdo magazine".

3. "Internal Ukrainian events" led to the assassination. "It is no secret that among both the conflicting sides, there are very radical people, who are not subordinate to any authorities," the committee said.

4. Nemtsov's business activities, a personal vendetta against him or a domestic dispute could also not be ruled out, investigators said. They made no mention of the politician's determined and vocal opposition to President Vladimir Putin's rule, which he frequently characterised as venal, cruel and vengeful.

- Observer, Telegraph Group Ltd