Prosecutor Seeks Lengthy Prison Terms For Nemtsov Slaying Convicts

A state prosecutor has asked a Russian court to sentence five men convicted of killing opposition politician Boris Nemtsov to prison terms ranging from 17 years to life.

Prosecutor Maria Semenenko urged the Moscow Regional Military Court on July 12 to sentence Zaur Dadayev, the man found guilty of fatally shooting Nemtsov, to life in prison.

She recommended sentences of 23 years for Anzor Gubashev, 21 years for his brother Shadid Gubashev, 19 years for Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, and 17 years for Khamzat Bakhayev.

The court is expected to sentence the defendants on July 13.

Nemtsov, a reformist former deputy prime minister who was a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin and of Kremlin-installed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot from behind on a bridge just outside the Kremlin on the night of February 27, 2015.

A jury convicted the five men, all from Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, on June 29. They deny guilt.

A sixth man, Ruslan Mukhudinov, has been charged in absentia with organizing the killing.

Relatives and former associates of Nemtsov believe his killing was ordered at a higher level, and say that justice will not be done unless the real masterminds are identified and prosecuted.

With reporting by Rapsinews and TASS