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Chechen leader ties killing of Nemtsov to Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Zaur Dadayev.Tatyana Makeyeva/REUTERS

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 Mohammed, but the victim’s colleagues expressed doubt Monday.

Kadyrov, writing on his Instagram account, said he knew Zaur Dadayev, a former police officer charged in a Moscow court 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 Kadyrov, who often uses Instagram to make public statements.

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The Chechen leader also described 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 Kadyrov said were unclear.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, bestowed a state award Monday on Kadyrov. The Order of Honor is given in recognition of achievements in public life.

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 Feb. 27 by a man who fled in a car driven by an accomplice.

Although 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 Kadyrov, most recently for parading his own thousands-strong private militia in Chechnya and saying it could be put to any service for Russia.

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“It sounds like our worst fears are confirmed,” Ilya Yashin, a political ally of Nemtsov’s, wrote on his Facebook page 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, 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 criticized 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 Nemtsov, his allies considered it unlikely. Three jihadis 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 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 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 words they caught Dadayev saying from inside the defendant’s cage was, “I love the prophet Mohammed.”

Kadyrov wrote that Dadayev had served as the deputy battalion commander of the Interior Ministry troops, lauding him as “one of the most fearless and courageous troops of the regiment.” He had risen to the rank of lieutenant, the Chechen leader wrote, and had been awarded several medals for courage. Kadyrov said he had ordered an investigation into Dadayev’s background.

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The other man charged in the case Sunday, Anzor Gubashev, pleaded not guilty.