MOSCOW, July 25 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) – The Moscow District Military Court will continue the preliminary hearings for alleged Nemtsov murderers on July 26, Vadim Prokhorov, a lawyer for the Nemtsov family, told RAPSI on Monday.
According to the lawyer, on July 26 the court will rule on the petitions filed by the parties.

The defense asked for a trial by jury; this motion was supported by the aggrieved party as facilitating fairness of the hearings.

“Investigators have not established the motives behind this crime, whereas the organizers of the murder haven’t been found,” the lawyer said. He added that in his judgement investigators had utterly failed as concerned the actual facts relating to the murder.

The aggrieved party has also petitioned the court to return the case to the Prosecutor’s Office in order to re-determine it from murder to an attempt on life of state or public person.  

Earlier, tightened security was introduced around the building of the court, where the preliminary hearings are held, as reported by a RAPSI correspondent. The building has been sealed off and journalists not permitted in the courtroom.

At the end of June, Vladimir Markin, the Russia’s Investigative Committee official spokesperson, said that “Investigation into the case of Zaur Dadayev, Anzor Gubashev, Shadid Gubashev, Temerlan Eskerkhanov, and Khamzat Bakhayev standing charged with a contract murder in the composition of an organized gang, and of illegal acquisition, transportation and possession of firearms, has been completed.”

According to investigators, in late September 2014, Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer in the Chechen Interior Ministry, and some unnamed persons offered the five accused to murder Nemtsov for 15 million rubles ($230,000).

The Investigative Committee spokesperson said that the accused had thoroughly prepared to commit this crime: they studied Nemtsov’s schedule, spied upon him, prepared suitable weapons, vehicles and communication equipment. On the day of the murder, 28 February, after following Nemtsov from his home, at about 11.31 p.m. Dadayev, having received a signal from Anzor Gubashev and Shavanov that the situation was suitable for the murder, shot Nemtsov at least six times as he walked across a bridge near the Kremlin. Nemtsov, 55, died at the scene succumbing to injuries.

The criminal case of the five accused, according to Markin, has been waiting for the approval of indictment. The investigation into Mukhudinov, the alleged mastermind behind this high-profile murder, who has been on the international wanted list since 2015 and other unidentified persons, is still going on, the Committee spokesman noted.