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Suspects in Nemtsov murder charged, spark skepticism

By Andrew V. Pestano

MOSCOW, March 9 (UPI) -- Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev, both of Chechen origin, have been charged in the shooting murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

The charges have sparked outrage and speculation throughout Russia.

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Dadayev, pleaded guilty to complicity in Nemtsov's murder on Sunday, according to Russian courts. Three others, Shagid Gubashev, brother of Gubashev, Ramzan Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov will remain in custody until April 28, due to a request by the Moscow's Basmanny Court.

One man reportedly committed suicide during a standoff with police in Grozny, Chechnya's capital.

Nemtsov was shot in the back with a pistol on Feb. 27 while walking on a bridge near the Kremlin. He was a former deputy prime minister under former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, said he knew Dadayev as a "true patriot of Russia."

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"Zaur was one of the bravest men in the regiment," Kadyrov said. "He displayed particular courage in an operation against a large group of terrorist... I am certain that he was sincerely dedicated to Russia and prepared to give his life for the Motherland. The real reasons and motives behind Dadayev's dismissal from the Russian Interior Ministry troops are unclear to me."

Kadyrov said an investigation into Dadayev has been launched.

"But I must say once again that he would have never taken a single step against Russia, for the sake of which he had risked his own life for many years," he added.

Ilya Yashin, a close ally to Nemtsov, is skeptical about the charges. Yashin told BBC News he rejected the idea that radical Islamists were behind the murder and suggested the murder was orchestrated by people in Russia, including the government.

Yashin called the murder an "act of terror to scare society."

"I believe that the organizers of the murder are in Russia and I believe that they are in the Russian government," he added.

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