Report on Nemtsov murder presented in PACE is biased, politicized - Slutsky
STRASBOURG. June 27 (Interfax) - The report on the Boris Nemtsov murder is based on suspicious sources and is needed for pressuring Russia, Leonid Slutsky, deputy head of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said.
"The report on the Boris Nemtsov murder is absolutely politicized and biased. It's not a report on Nemtsov, but on the use of his name as an instrument for demonizing Russia in PACE," Slutsky told reporters on Thursday.
The document was initiated before the powers of the Russian delegation were confirmed and it returned to PACE, he said.
"The reporter has never visited Russia and used only suspicious external sources," he said.
The document also contains biased interpretations of the tragedy, which have nothing to do with the truth, he said.
"All calls made in the draft resolution are elements of pressuring the Russian leadership and investigators," Slutsky said.
The resolution was drafted by Emanuelis Zingeris, who has been declared persona non grata in Russia. Forty delegated voted for its adoption, no one voted against it. According to the PACE regulations, it is enough for a resolution to the adopted. The assembly has over 320 delegates. The Russian delegation said it was voting as the case had not been closed yet and it constituted pressure on the investigators.
The document stated there were regularities in the investigation into the Nemtsov murder and contained calls on the Russian authorities to conduct another investigation.
Opposition politician Nemtsov was killed on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, in close proximity to the Kremlin, on February 27, 2015.
On June 29, 2017, a jury in the Moscow district military court found Dadayev, along with Shadid Gubashev, Anzor Gubashev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, and Khamzat Bakhayev guilty of Nemtsov's murder and deserving of no leniency. On July 13, 2017, they were sentenced to between eleven and 20 years' imprisonment at a high-security facility and fined 100,000 rubles each. The Supreme Court quashed their fines on October 10, 2017, but upheld the remainder of the sentences.