Opposition dismisses claims Nemtsov killed by extremists
MOSCOW — Supporters of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov dismissed suggestions Monday that his shooting could have been motivated by Islamic extremism.
Five men are in custody in connection with the Feb. 27 shooting, and all of them are from the predominantly Muslim region of Chechnya, or other parts of the restive North Caucasus.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said one of the main suspects, Zaur Dadayev, could have been motivated by Nemtsov’s comments after the deadly January attack on French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, which published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
“Everyone who knows Zaur confirms that he is a deeply religious person who, like all Muslims, was shocked by the actions of Charlie and comments (of those) who supported the publication of the caricatures,” Kadyrov said in a statement late Sunday.
Nemtsov criticized the Charlie Hebdo attackers in an online post, saying that Islam was a “young religion that is current in its Middle Ages, and there is a long fight ahead to defeat the Islamic inquisition.”
A longtime friend of Nemtsov and a fellow opposition activist, however, said he wasn’t an enemy of Islam.
“The attempt to convince the public that Nemtsov was an obvious target for Islamic radicals doesn’t stand up to criticism,” Ilya Yashin told The Associated Press on Monday.
“This version is extremely convenient for (President) Vladimir Putin, because it takes both him and his inner circle out of the line of fire.”
Supporters of Nemtsov, however, believe that by casting blame on Islamic extremists, investigators are attempting to shift blame away from the government and onto a minority which remains controversial among many Russians.