Participants of Moscow march in memory of Nemtsov call for release of political prisoners

Participants of a march in memory of Boris Nemtsov demanded to release Oyub Titiev, the head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" office in Grozny, Rostov activist Anastasia Shevchenko, and all Russian political prisoners. The marchers also called for the investigation into the murders of Natalia Estemirova and Anna Politkovskaya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the march in memory of Boris Nemtsov was held in Moscow under enhanced security measures. Activists demanded to find the customer for the murder, for which natives of Chechnya have been convicted. The staff of the Amnesty International (AI) joined the march demanding to release Oyub Titiev, a Chechen human rights defender.

The march in memory of Boris Nemtsov ended in Moscow at 4:00 p.m. Moscow time. By the time of the formal march end, Sakharov Avenue was still filled with people, and the police were urging them to clear the way for car traffic. The procession stretched for several kilometres, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.

"The today's action is not only about Boris Nemtsov. This [action] is for all the people who suffered from the current political regime. We believe that sooner or later we will find out what kind of people are so rudely plunging the country into hell," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Tatiana, a participant of the march.

"I am very glad that today [so many people have come out to the streets]! Here is the Amnesty International's flag in support of Oyub Titiev, and here in support of Anastasia Shevchenko. Everyone looks at these faces and remembers them. Sometimes, a person can see a face on a picture, and he or she will immediately recall that this is our political prisoner. And the person will tell others, and that's good," pensioner Semyon Bordov expressed his opinion.

Dmitry Gudkov, a co-organizer of the march, admitted at the end of the protest action that he did not expect to see such a large number of people. According to him, the action gathered "two or three times more people than last year."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 24, 2019 at 07:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.