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Story highlights
- Zaur Dadayev says he was tortured while he was in custody and, because he was scared, he confessed
- Two other suspects reported they were tortured
- All three tell officials they are innocent
Moscow (CNN)The primary suspect jailed in connection with the shooting death of Boris Nemtsov withdrew his confession Wednesday, saying he had been under duress during his admission and isn't guilty.
Zaur Dadayev told two members of Russia's human rights council that he pleaded guilty after being detained because he was scared. He told Eva Merkacheva and Andrey Babushkin he had been tortured and the well-being of his family and friends were threatened.
Dadayev was one of two suspects recently charged in the case. Three other suspects have not been charged.
Merkacheva and Babushkin were accused of "interfering" with the investigation and will be summoned for questioning over their motives, authorities said. Russia's Investigative Committee stated that the two rights activists violated the law when they visited and questioned Dadayev in a Moscow jail.
Amnesty International condemned the Russian officials' decision to go after the activists, saying that a "threat to bring criminal charges" against the rights activists "raises alarming questions over the fairness of the investigation."
Photos: Critics of Putin
Photos: Critics of Putin
Former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium, his tea spiked during a meeting with two former Russian security servicemen. He had said the Russian Federal Security Service orchestrated a series of bombings in Russia in 1999 that left hundreds dead and led to Russia's invasion of Chechnya later that year.
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Photos: Critics of Putin
Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin on February 27, 2015. The killing took place two days before he was supposed to lead an opposition rally.
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Photos: Critics of Putin
Business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky supported an opposition party and accused Putin of corruption. He spent more than 10 years behind bars, accused of tax evasion and fraud.
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Anti-corruption lawyer Alexey Navalny once branded Putin's United Russia party "the party of crooks and thieves." He was arrested in December 2014 on accusations of fraud.
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Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky accused the Kremlin of killing Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. In 2013, he was found dead with a noose around his neck; the coroner could not say whether it was a suicide.
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Anna Politkovskaya, a vocal critic of Russia's war in Chechnya, was shot four times in front of her Moscow apartment in 2006. A Moscow court sentenced five men to prison in 2014 for her death.
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Human rights activist Natalya Estemirova was kidnapped outside her Chechnya home in July 2009 and was found dead later the same day. The head of the group Estemirova worked for, Memorial, accused the Kremlin-backed Chechen leadership of ordering her killing.
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Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, left, represented the family of a Chechen woman killed by a former Russian colonel in March 2000. He was shot in 2009. The gunman also killed Anastasia Baburova, right, who may have been trying to intervene.
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Anton Tsvetkov, the head of the Public Chamber's commission for public security, said Dadyev and two other suspects denied being involved in the shooting of the Russian opposition leader.
He said a doctor found no signs of torture during an examination of the three men.
Shagit Gubashev and Anzor Gubashev had no bruises or wounds despite the fact they allege they were beaten by police, Tsvetkov said.
Dadayev did have a cracked tooth and handcuff marks on his wrists.
Nemtsov, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, was shot in the back on a Moscow bridge as he walked with his girlfriend near the Kremlin in February 27.
The three suspects visited by Tsvetkov deny they are guilty and have appealed their arrests, he said.
Putin has condemned Nemtsov's killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate, the Kremlin has said. He also wrote to Nemtsov's mother, saying he shared her grief, and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice.