09-03-2015 | 08:45
A Russian court on Sunday charged two men with the murder of opposition activist Boris Nemtsov, including an ex-police officer from Chechnya who confessed to his involvement in what investigators said was a contract killing.
Interfax news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying that a sixth suspect threw a grenade at police who came to arrest him in the Chechen capital and killed himself with another grenade Saturday.
In Moscow, masked, heavily armed police marched the five handcuffed suspects through hallways packed with journalists and into two separate courtrooms where they were placed inside defendants' cages and ordered to be held for around two months pending the investigation.
According to documents read out in court, the accused are charged under a section of the Russian criminal code which shows investigators believe the murder was carried out by a group of people for financial gain, the Interfax news agency reported.
The charges also involve extortion and banditry. Investigators said they were still seeking others who may have been involved.
Zaur Dadayev, a former deputy commander in the Chechen police, and Anzor Gubashev, who worked for a private security company in Moscow, were arrested on Saturday in the province of Ingushetia, which neighbors Chechnya.They were both charged with murder but Gubashev denied involvement.
"The participation of Dadayev is confirmed by his confession," said presiding judge Nataliya Mushnikova, according to state news agencies.
Court spokeswoman Anna Fadeyeva told the RIA Novosti news agency that the other three men were only considered suspects at this stage.
They are Gubashev's younger brother Shagid, Ramzat Bakhayev and Tamerlan
Eskerkhanov, who news agencies reported had also been arrested in Ingushetia.
The men are all from the volatile northern Caucasus region where Russia has fought two devastating wars against Chechen rebels and where security forces continue to clash with insurgents.
"The suspects denied their involvement in this crime but investigators have proof of their involvement," a representative for the probe told the court.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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