Moscow court sentences Zhanna Nemtsova in absentia to four years for father’s foundation

Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court on 5 November sentenced Zhanna Nemtsova in absentia to four years in a general-regime penal colony for allegedly leading the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom, which Russia designates an “undesirable organisation,” Mediazona reported from the courtroom. The court also banned her from administering internet resources for eight years.

The case

• Prosecutors had sought five years in a colony and a nine-year online ban. The court-appointed defence lawyer asked for an acquittal, saying intent was not proven; a newly retained counsel sought a delay that the judge refused.
• Nemtsova was charged under the Criminal Code article on organising the activity of an undesirable organisation. She was earlier arrested in absentia, put on an international wanted list and labelled a “foreign agent.”
• The foundation was set up in Germany in 2015 after Boris Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin on 27 February 2015. Russia listed it as undesirable in 2024.

Zhanna Nemtsova left Russia after her father’s murder. Mediazona said the prosecution cited her public comments and a speech in Budva as evidence of leadership; her lawyer said she does not plead guilty.