Nemtsov, who was a former deputy prime minister and sharp
critic of Vladamir Putin, the Russian President, was reportedly shot four times
by a killer in a passing car in Moscow on Friday evening. World leaders led by
David Cameron and Barack Obama condemned the killing of Boris Nemtsov. Both the
US President, Obama, and Cameron said that the murder should be investigated by
the Russian government and Nemtsov was described as a tireless advocate for
citizens’ rights and fighting corruption. He was also described as a “courageous
and tireless defender of democracy and a dogged fighter against corruption” and
his killing has been described as an assassination. The killing took place two
days before a major opposition rally was to be held in Moscow that was supposed
to be led by Nemtsov. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said that the president
would take the investigation under “personal care” and that he believed the
killing to be a provocation. Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader, also
believed it to be a provocation. Russia’s investigative committee said that the
killing could be linked to events in Ukraine or could have been carried out by
radical Islamists. A spokesman for the committee said that Nemtsov had received
threats on his position on the Charlie Hebdo shootings. During an interview
earlier in the month, Nemtsov said that he feared that Putin would try to have
him killed. The reaction in Moscow was of shock and amazement because no major
political figure has been killed in Russia for a decade.
Many enemies of Putin wind up dead. I think that Nemtsov’s
death is shocking because he was such a fighter for democracy and even though
it was dangerous to advocate for democracy, he did it anyway. In the article,
it states that Putin would take the investigation of Nemtsov’s death into his “personal
care” but I think that Putin will only pretend to truly investigate and judging
by the last Russian journalist that was killed a while back, I do not think the
truth will not be revealed for a while.
Bethany Shaffer
3/4/2015
9:22 pm
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