Nemtsov Murder Suspect 'Forced To Confess'

The main suspect in the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov says he was kidnapped and forced to write a confession under duress.

Zaur Dadayev, former deputy commander of a police battalion loyal to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, told a Moscow court he was abducted, beaten, and pressured into admitting the crime.

Speaking via video-link from the pre-trial detention centre where he is being held, Mr Dadayev said: "I was kidnapped by unknown men on March 5.

"I don't know where I was being kept, but the formal arrest at the Investigative Committee did not happen until March 7.

"My evidence was given under pressure. I was told what to write. There are no witnesses. I have an alibi - during the murder I was at home."

A human rights activist who visited him in custody last month said Dadayev had multiple visible injuries, and there were reasonable grounds to believe he and two other suspects had been tortured.

During the same court hearing on Wednesday, however, the prosecutor claimed Zaur Dadayev was co-operating with the investigation, had confessed his involvement, and was implicated by other 'secret' evidence.

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister of Russia and well-known Putin critic, was shot four times in the back as he walked across a bridge outside the Kremlin late in the evening on 27 February.

He had been on his way home with his girlfriend, 23-year-old Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, at the time.

Ms Duritskaya has since returned to Ukraine, but investigators said today she would be recalled to Moscow to help identify suspects, and asked to take part remotely if she refused to return.

Zaur Dadayev was second in command of the feared 'Sever' (North) interior ministry unit, based in Grozny, in the volatile republic of Chechnya.

Four other men, also from the Russia’s restive North Caucasus region, are suspected of involvement in the killing.

Brothers Anzor and Shagid Gubashev, Khamzat Bakhayev, and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, all maintain their innocence.

Bakhayev’s lawyer said his client had seven young children to support, while Eskerhanov’s representative said his health was worsening in prison.

The terms of their arrest will be examined by a second court at a later date.

Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov has previously praised Dadayev, describing him after his arrest as a patriot, who was "sincerely devoted to Russia, ready to give his life for the motherland".

He has said that Dadayev was angered by Nemtsovs support for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, and appeared to be hinting that this could have been the motive for his murder.

Nemtsov’s friends and opposition colleagues describe the theory as ‘nonsensical’ and believe he was killed because of his political activity.