Nemtsov murder case cannot be considered resolved as long as masterminds walk free - opposition activist's colleague Yashin
MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist and a colleague of Boris Nemtsov, said he finds the verdict handed down by the jury to be fair, but said the case cannot be considered resolved as long as the masterminds of the crime remain free.
"It is not a secret that the jurors were under serious pressure. Nevertheless, they were strong and they handed out a fair verdict to the gangsters who killed Boris Nemtsov. However, the case cannot be considered resolved as long as the masterminds walk free," Yashin told Interfax on Thursday.
"We will demand investigative actions against those to whom we believe the traces of the murder lead," Yashin said, adding that "if the masterminds of the crime evade responsibility, political killings will continue in Russia."
Mikhail Kasyanov, chairman of the PARNAS party, said he is negative about the investigation and the trial of the Nemtsov murder case.
"The court and the investigators deliberately limited the guilty ones and the not guilty ones only just in the perpetrators of the killing. I believe this court is engaged in a sham. The state administration, which could help the trial and the investigation, has fully turned away from them. I believe the sentence, which will be read, will be unclear to the public," Kasyanov told Interfax on Thursday.
He said he believes the court has failed to study all evidence in the case.
The jury in the Moscow District Military Court earlier found all five defendants in the Nemtsov murder case guilty of the charges.