[JURIST] Five men appeared in a Moscow courtroom Sunday for charges relating to the murder of liberal Russian political activist and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov [BBC profile]. Nemstov was shot in the back four times [BBC report] on a bridge near the Kremlin before the unidentified shooter fled the scene by car. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny [BBC profile] believes that Nemtsov was murdered at the order [statement, in Russian] of Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website, in Russian] because of Nemtsov’s open political opposition to Russia’s role in the crisis in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. Moscow has officially charged two men [Guardian report] for Nemtsov’s murder and are detaining three others as suspects. Putin press secretary Dmitry Peskov [RT profile] announced that Putin would take personal control of the investigation [RFI report].

Earlier this month Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko [official website] posthumously awarded Nemtsov the Order of Liberty [press release] for his efforts to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine. Poroshenko described Nemtsov as a friend, and a “bridge between Ukraine and Russia.” In February US President Barack Obama [official profile] condemned Nemtsov’s murder [press release] and urged the Russian government to conduct a “prompt, impartial and transparent investigation” into the attack. French President François Hollande [official profile, in French] denounced the murder as an assassination [press release, in French], describing Nemtsov as a courageous and tireless defender of democracy and a fierce fighter against corruption.