Statement by SASC Chairman John McCain on Russian Court's Convictions for Murder of Boris Nemtsov

Statement

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on a Russian court's conviction of five people for the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov:

"Whatever the guilt or innocence of the men convicted in Moscow, the reality is that the criminal who is truly responsible for the murder of Boris Nemtsov remains at large and ensconced in the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin may not have ordered Boris's assassination. But what is so frightening about Putin's Russia is that he didn't need to. My friend Boris was killed because of the culture of impunity that Vladimir Putin has created in Russia, where individuals who dare to speak the truth about Putin's tyranny and corruption are routinely persecuted, attacked, and often killed, but those responsible are never held accountable.

"Vladimir Putin and his thugs may have succeeded in taking Boris's life, but they did not silence him. His memory, and the cause for which he gave his life, lives on in the hearts and minds of true Russian patriots, tens of thousands of whom have been taking to the streets in recent months to fight for truth and liberty for the Russian people. Inspired by Boris's example, I know that someday they will succeed."

Source