MOSCOW, March 11 (UPI) -- Zaur Dadayev, suspect in the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, apparently confessed while undergoing torture.
Andrei Babushkin, a member of Russia's Human Rights Council, said Dadayev suffered from "numerous wounds" on his body and said Dadayev claimed he was shackled for two days with a bag over his head.
"There are reasons to believe Zaur Dadayev confessed under torture," Babushkin said. He called for an investigation into the claim by people who are not involved in the murder inquiry.
Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, said he knew Dadayev as a "true patriot of Russia."
"I am certain that he was sincerely dedicated to Russia and prepared to give his life for the Motherland," Kadyrov said of Dadayev.
Babushkin visited Dadayev and Shagid Gubashev, a second suspect, in the Nemtsov murder who maintains innocence at a prison in Moscow.
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.
A motive for the murder has not been declared.
