Nemtsov friend calls 'Islamist' theory on Moscow killing 'nonsensical'

A colleague of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition figure shot dead near Moscow's Red Square, said suggestions that Nemtsov was killed in an “Islamist” plot were nonsensical and useful for the Kremlin because they deflected accusations that officials were involved.

Speculation that such a plot was involved in the killing was strengthened after Judge Nataliya Mushnikova said in a Moscow court on Sunday that Zaur Dadaev — a Chechen Muslim — had signed a confession stating his involvement in the crime. She ordered his detention extended until April 28. Still, state-run media reported that Dadaev did not admit guilt in the courtroom. Four other men appeared in court Sunday in relation to Nemtsov’s death. Another suspect who was charged, Anzor Gubashev, denied guilt, state media reports said.

A former employer of one of the suspects said the suspect had been angered by publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Reuters reported. Nemtsov had defended the cartoons.

But the premise that Nemtsov death was fueled by religious motives has been met with skepticism by some of Nemtsov's associates. They believe that the Kremlin stood to gain from the killing — though Russian officials have denied involvement — and they do not believe radicals acting alone could have shot someone dead so close to the Kremlin.

"Our worst fears are coming true," Ilya Yashin, the co-leader of Nemtsov's small liberal opposition party, said on Twitter late on Sunday. "The trigger man will be blamed, while those who actually ordered Nemtsov's killing will go free."

"Investigators' nonsensical theory about Islamist motives in Nemtsov's killing suit the Kremlin and take Putin out of the firing line," Yashin added on Monday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nemtsov, a 55-year-old former deputy prime minister who became a vocal Kremlin critic, was shot in the back four times as he walked home near Red Square on Feb. 27. His was the most high-profile killing of an opposition figure during Putin's 15 years in power.

Nemtsov was not widely popular in Russia outside the relatively small urban intelligentsia. But his supporters say he was a threat to the Kremlin because he was determined to expose official corruption.

In the days before he was killed, he was working on a report which, aides said, would allege that Russia was sending regular troops to fight in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has denied any direct involvement in the fighting.

Prosecutors have charged two men, Zaur Dadaev and Anzor Gubashev, with involvement in Nemtsov's killing, and are holding three others as suspects. Officials say Dadaev, who used to be a commander in the Chechen police's "Sever" battalion, has admitted involvement.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is loyal to Putin, said he knew Dadaev and described him as a true patriot.

"All who know Zaur (Dadaev) confirm that he is a deep believer and also that he, like all Muslims, was shocked by the activities of Charlie [Hebdo] and comments in support of printing the cartoons," Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account.

Putin has called Nemtsov's killing a shameful tragedy. Officials have said they will conduct a thorough investigation. They say they are still looking for people they believe were involved in the killing.

Wire services