By: M. Dinata *)
Boris Nemtsov, one of Russian opposition leader, were killed on Friday, 27 February 2015. He was shot 4 times by unknown person on a Moskow street when he walked with his girlfriend, Anna Durytska. He was killed near Kremlin, which is always tightly policed, and where security cameras are everywhere. No witnesses on this case, except his grilfriend but she also didn’t see the gunman.
This assasination has create a huge mourned day for Russian. Tens of thousands of people marched along the Moskva River embankment near the Kremlin where Boris Nemtsov was killed on Sunday, 1 March 2015. The opposition accused the authorities were behind this case. “If we can stop the campaign of hate that’s being directed at the opposition, then we have a chance to change Russia. If not, then we face the prospect of mass civil conflict,” Gennady Gudkov, an opposition leader, told Reuters. There is a theory that Russian nationalist who fight in Ukraine has come back and become more powerful, they want to punish people whom they see as enemies of the new Russia and Boris Nemtsov was one on their list.
At the other side, the authorities also blamed the supporters were behind this case in order to create instability and strengthen their alliance. Sergei Markov, a high-profile pro-government political expert, wrote on Facebook: “One needs to say, honestly, that Boris Nemtsov was killed by people who want to see ‘a revolution’ in Russia and who organised the Maydan ‘protests’ in Kiev”.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that the murder was a provocation. He ordered Russian Police to investigate the case and pursue the killer. In order to answer the ordered, Russian investigator offered a three-million-ruble reward, nearly $61,000, for information on Nemtsov’s death. The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin says “Mr Nemtsov may have been sacrificed by those who do not shun anything to reach their political gains.” The invetigators are trying to find any posibilities on this murder, like Islamic extremism connection and also links with Ukraine.
Boris Nemtsov funeral was held on Tuesday, 3 march 2015 at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery, Moscow. Several EU politicians and Russia’s opposition leader were prohibited to attend.
*) The Author Is Brunei Darussalam Contributors.
