Russian Rights Official Not Allowed To See Nemtsov Killing Suspects

The head of the Russian presidential human rights council says he has not been allowed to visit detained suspects in the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Mikhail Fedotov told Interfax news agency on March 16 that he and his colleague Kirill Kabanov were not allowed to visit the five suspects on March 13.

He added that there was no official document from investigators explaining the prohibition.

On March 11, Andrei Babushkin, also a member of the presidential human rights council, was questioned by Russian investigators after visiting three of the suspects held in a Moscow pretrial detention jail.

Babushkin said after the visit there were signs that one of the suspects, Zaur Dadayev, had been tortured into making a confession.

He quoted officers from Russia’s Investigative Committee as telling him that he may no longer visit suspects in the case because he is a witness.

Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin on February 27.

With reporting by Interfax