Was Nemtsov Killed by Muslim Angered by His Support for Charlie Hebdo?

It’s certainly possible. NYTImes:

MOSCOW — Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the leader of the troubled southern Russian republic of Chechnya, linked the shooting death of a Kremlin critic to the controversy over French cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad, but the victim’s colleagues expressed doubt on Monday.

Mr. Kadyrov, writing on his Instagram account, said that he knew Zaur Dadayev, a former police officer charged in a Moscow court on Sunday in the killing, as a devout Muslim who had been shocked by the anti-Muslim cartoons of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and by those who supported their publication.

“Anyone who knows Zaur confirms that he is a deeply religious man, and that he, like all Muslims, was shocked by the actions of Charlie and comments in support of printing the cartoons,” wrote Mr. Kadyrov, who often uses Instagram to make public statements.

The Chechen leader also described Mr. Dadayev as a “true patriot of Russia” who had been awarded several medals for bravery for his work in fighting Islamic insurgents. He had left the North Battalion, a unit of Interior Ministry troops in Chechnya, for reasons that Mr. Kadyrov said were unclear.

The slain government critic, Boris Y. Nemtsov, 55, a former deputy prime minister turned opposition leader, was shot in the back four times within sight of the Kremlin walls on Feb. 27 by a man who fled in a car driven by an accomplice.

Although Mr. Nemtsov had defended the publication of the French cartoons, his friends rejected that as a motivation for the killing, convinced that it was his harsh criticism of the Russian government that ultimately made him a target. He had also criticized Mr. Kadyrov, most recently for parading his own thousands-strong private militia in Chechnya and saying it could be put to any service for Russia.

“It sounds like our worst fears are confirmed,” Ilya Yashin, a political ally of Mr. Nemtsov’s, wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. “The fall guy will be called to account, while the real contractors of Nemtsov’s murder will remain at large.”

Russia has been fighting the most recent Islamic insurgency in Chechnya since 1994. As president of the republic, Mr. Kadyrov has been given a free hand there by the Kremlin, and he runs it using a mix of Stalinism, Sufi Islam and Chechen nationalism.

Human rights groups have frequently criticized Mr. Kadyrov for violence against dissidents, including abductions and killings.

Although a link to the Charlie Hebdo case was mentioned early as a possible motive for the killing of Mr. Nemtsov, his allies considered it unlikely. Three jihadists killed 17 people in Paris in January, including 12 members of the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo.

Five men from the North Caucasus were jailed on Sunday in connection with the Nemtsov killing, with two charged in connection with the murder and the other three remanded into custody for two months pending further investigation.

State-run news agencies quoted Judge Nataliya Mushnikova of Basmanny District Court as saying that Mr. Dadayev had confessed to involvement in the killing and that other evidence confirmed his participation. Television cameras were allowed into the courtroom briefly, and the only thing they caught Mr. Dadayev saying from inside the defendant’s cage was, “I love the Prophet Muhammad.”

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A sixth suspect blew himself up with a hand grenade on Saturday night as the police closed in on his apartment in the southern city of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, the Interfax news agency reported.

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The two main suspects, Mr. Dadayev and Mr. Gubashev, are between 30 and 35, he said, and have been in Moscow for years. Mr. Gubashev had worked for a private security company in Moscow as a guard in a superstore, Mr. Barakhoev said.

Ajmani Dadayev, the mother of Mr. Dadayev, told state television that the two Gubashev brothers were her nephews.

The Interfax news agency, quoting an unidentified source, said the police had been able to trace the first two men through cellphone activity around the location of the killing and from DNA evidence found in the car suspected of having been used in the getaway.