Nemtsov murder: five suspects appear in Russia court

FIVE people suspected of involvement in the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov have appeared in court in Moscow.

Four of the suspects come from the northern Caucasus region and were arrested in the republic of Ingushetia, Russian media reports.

There is no word on the fifth suspect.

Nemtsov was killed on a bridge within sight of the Kremlin as he was walking with his girlfriend on the night of 27 February. The murder shocked Russia.

The former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, 55, was shot in the back four times. He was buried in Moscow on Tuesday.

Only two of the men detained have been named – Anzor Gubashev, and Zaur Dadaev. They served in a battalion of interior ministry troops in Chechnya, reports ssay.

President Vladimir Putin has condemned Nemtsov’s murder and called for an end to “shameful” political killings in Russia.

But leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny accused the Kremlin of ordering the assassination to cow the opposition amid Russia’s mounting economic problems.

Nemtsov was killed just days before a march he was organising against the war in Ukraine.

He had also been drafting a report expected to expose covert Russian military involvement in the conflict.

Some 50,000 people attended a rally near the Kremlin in protest at his death on 1 March and thousands turned out to pay their respects at his funeral.