Thousands rally in Moscow to remember Boris Nemtsov Opposition leader and critic of Vladimir Putin
Source: Irish Times
Thousands of people marched through central Moscow on Saturday to honour Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader who was assassinated a year ago on a bridge overlooked by the Kremlin.
Nemtsov, a fierce critic of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead at point blank range on the night of February 27th last year in an attack that had all the marks of a contract killing.
Russian police have arrested five Chechen men accused of killing Nemtsov for cash, but an investigation of who ordered the crime has stalled amid a slew of conspiracy theories.
Opposition leaders suspect that Ramzan Kadyrov, the hardline president of Chechnya and a protegee of Mr Putin, had a hand in Nemtsov’s murder. Mr Kadyrov has denied involvement.
Read more: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/thousands-rally-in-moscow-to-remember-boris-nemtsov-1.2552371
From the Moscow Times:
Dozens of Russian and Foreign Cities to Mourn Slain Oppositioner Nemtsov
The march was the largest opposition gathering since a similar number turned out to mourn Nemtsov two days after he was shot late at night as he and a companion walked across a bridge near the Kremlin. The brutality, so close to the center of Russian power, both frightened and angered supporters of the beleaguered opposition.
City authorities denied march organizers permission to hold a procession to the bridge where Nemtsov was killed, but approved another route in central Moscow. For hours after the march, thousands also visited the bridge, filing past in a steady stream and laying flowers at the makeshift memorial.
"I don't have a clear understanding of what this will lead to, but I really want there to be a civil society so that people can express their opinions," said Daria Skrylova, a 32-year-old history teacher who, bearing 10 white roses, came to the bridge.
In Putin's decade-and-a-half in power, Russian opposition groups have come under severe pressure, criticized by officials and state-controlled media as pawns of the West. Permission for their rallies is frequently denied.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/dozens-of-russian-and-foreign-cities-to-mourn-slain-oppositioner-nemtsov/560792.html
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