One of the suspects, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, being brought to court. Yahoo/Reuters.
Russia has charged two men for the killing of Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken Putin critic and opposition leader. Reuters. Along with the two men, three others, all ethnic Chechens, were charged with supporting the assassination. Chechen leader Ramzam Kadyrov said that one of the suspects, Zaur Dadayev, who was a high ranking policeman, was extremely angered over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Nemtsov had publicly condemned the attacks and had supported the magazines right to publish the cartoons. Kadyrov spoke highly of the mans police service and noted that he had several medals for bravery. It has been reported that Dadayev has confessed to his role in the assassination. A sixth man blew himself up with a grenade as police were trying to capture him.
My Comment:
Hmm. What a strange case. I don't doubt that these men committed the crime. The question is why though. It seems that Russia is pushing the Charlie Hebdo/Islamic extremist angle, but that's far from the only possibility. It is very plausible though. Chechnya had huge protests against the cartoons just a little while ago. Russia claimed that 60% of the entire population of Chechnya was at that rally. Even if those numbers are over inflated, the scale of that protest is just absurd. It's clear that the Chechen people take the Charlie Hebdo cartoons far more seriously then what is at all sane or healthy, and I don't doubt that Ramzam Kadyrov is among the people that were outraged. It would not be at all surprising if the cartoons had something to do with this attack.
Except for one thing. It is way too convenient. Boris Nemtsov was a major critic of Vladimir Putin, and though western sources tend to overplay his importance, he was an enemy of Putin. Ramzam Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, knew some of the assassins personally. That is a HUGE coincidence that really implies that there is something more going on here then just radical Islam. I said before that Nemtsov wasn't important enough to kill, but perhaps I was wrong. I know he was looking into reports of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, but that alone doesn't seem like it would be enough.
The question now becomes where does the buck stop? There is a small possibility that this operation was planned by the people that carried it out and did not reach any further. But I am betting that at the very least Ramzam Kadyrov was involved as well. He may have been upset by the Charlie Hebdo cartoons as well, and may have ordered the hit. But the real question is did Vladimir Putin have any involvement? It seems unlikely that Kadyrov would order a hit right next to the Kremlin without Putin's approval. That would be incredibly bold for a man that is largely seen as a puppet for Putin, to the point of it being suicidal.
As far as I can tell that leaves four options. First, this was a rogue operation with no outside support. Plausible, but in my view unlikely. Second, Putin either ordered or allowed the hit to take place. This seems more likely now that I know that Kadyrov knew some of the assassins. Third, some other outside group ordered the hit. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a popular conspiracy theory, but as of right now there isn't any evidence for it. There isn't any evidence against it either. Forth, Kadyrov ordered the hit without Putin's approval. That just seems completely insane to me, but I guess it is possible to as well.
My working theory is that Kadyrov was angry about Nemtsov's support of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. He knew Putin considered Nemtsov an enemy so he figured he could kill two birds with one stone. He gets to eliminate someone who made him mad and he helped out his leader as well. Can I prove it? Hell no. Will I ever be able to do so? Doubtful. Like I said on my last post on this case, I doubt we will ever know the truth. At least the people that did the actual killing will face some justice, even if we never really find out who ordered the hit...
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