A Russian court has sentenced in absentia Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, to four years in a penal colony. The 42-year-old Nemtsova was found guilty over her activities with the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom, based in Germany. The sentence is subject to appeal.
According to the prosecution, the organization disseminates „negative assessments of various events in the Russian Federation“. In April 2024, the foundation was added by Russia’s Ministry of Justice to the list of foreign and international organizations whose activities are banned in Russia as „undesirable“.
The trial was conducted in absentia
Zhanna Nemtsova founded the organization in 2015 in the German city of Bonn, following the murder of her father in February of the same year. In August 2026, a Russian court issued an arrest warrant for her in absentia.
Nemtsova rejects the charges and describes them as politically motivated. In previous statements, she said: „The Russian authorities are stepping up their efforts to silence independent voices in the country.“
According to her, the foundation supports independent Russian media outlets in exile, educational projects, and the protection of Russians who have left the country because of their opposition to the war against Ukraine and the rule of President Vladimir Putin.
The foundation was established after Nemtsov’s murder
Boris Nemtsov, one of Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, was shot dead in February 2015 on a bridge in Moscow, not far from the Kremlin. After his death, his daughter continued her public activities through the organization bearing his name.
Sources: bta.bg, radiosvoboda.org