MOSCOW, April 19 (RAPSI) – Five convicted defendants in a criminal case over the murder of prominent Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov have filed appeals with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), lawyer Rosa Magomedova has told RAPSI.

The applicants in their complaints claim that Russian authorities have violated Articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 5 (right to liberty and security) and 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to the attorney.

In October 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia partially upheld sentence passed on the murderers of Nemtsov not changing prison terms but cancelling the fines imposed on the convicts.

The Moscow District Military Court gave the defendants prison terms varying from 11 to 20 years on July 13, 2017. The court ruled in accordance with the will of jurors, who found all the defendants guilty of involvement in the politician’s murder and illegal trafficking in firearms and ammunition.

Zaur Dadayev, Nemtsov’s first-hand killer was sentenced to 20 years. Anzor Gubashev was sentenced to 19 years, Shadid Gubashev to 16 years, Temirlan Eskerkhanov to 14 years and Khamzat Bakhayev to 11 years. All defendants are to serve their terms in a high-security penal colony. The court fined defendants 100,000 rubles (about $1,700). Shadid and Anzor Gubashev, Eskerkhanov and Bakhayev were also subjected to additional restriction of freedom for two years.

Boris Nemtsov, 55, a prominent opposition politician, who held a number of high-ranking posts in the Russian government in the 1990s and in the 2000s joined the opposition, was shot down in the center of Moscow as he walked across a bridge near the Kremlin on the night of February 28, 2015.

Investigators believe that the conspirators had thoroughly prepared to commit this crime and spied on the victim.

Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer in Chechen Interior Ministry, is believed to be a mastermind of the murder. He was placed on the international wanted list in November 2015. Beslan Shavanov, who allegedly was also implicated in the crime, reportedly killed himself when police tried to arrest him.

Criminal prosecution of Shavanov was dismissed because of his death. Investigation into Mukhudinov is underway.