A Russian court has convicted five Chechen men of murdering opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. One of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics, his murder sent a ripple around opposition circles.<br /><br />The verdict comes over two years after he was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin. At the time of his death, he was working on a report looking into the role of Russia in Ukraine. <br /><br />Hearings lasted more than eight months. One of those convicted was Zaur Dadayev, a former soldier in Chechnya, who prosecutors said had pulled the trigger. The jury found that the four others had acted as his accomplices and had been promised a bounty of 15 million roubles (220,000 euros) for the assassination. <br /><br />The court said Ruslan Mukhudinov, the man suspected of organising the murder, is being sought by police.<br /><br />According to Interfax news agency, the Kremlin has said it is up to investigators to decide if further investigation into the killing is needed.<br /><br />Both the lawyer for Nemtsov family & lawyers of men convicted of killing him think the verdict is premature attempt to declare murder solved pic.twitter.com/KBveS6oq4b— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) June 29, 2017<br /><br /><br />While Nemtsov’s supporters have welcomed the outcome, they claim Dadayev and the rest of the group are low-level operatives. The say the case has yet to be solved, because whoever ordered, financed and planned the hit have not been caught.<br /><br />The late politician’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, has repeatedly called for Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya, to be questioned in relation to the case. He calls himself “Putin’s foot soldier” and has praised Dadayev as a “true patriot of Russia.”<br /><br />Nemtsova’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, told reporters:<br /><br />“It’s the biggest crime of the century and yet they haven’t identified the real organisers or those who ordered it.<br /><br />“The Russian government was not prepared to look into the entourage of Kadyrov,” he added.<br /><br />Kadyrov has never appeared before the court and denies allegations he was personally involved.<br />
