A member of the Russian presidential council, who is looking into the killing of Boris Nemtsov, airs his doubt if the main suspect currently being detained by Russian authorities is the person who actually took the life of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov last February 27.  

Andrei Babushkin, a human rights activist who is part of the 40-member council, suspects the accused,  Zaur Dadayev, may just be a fall guy who was forced to confessed to the crime under duress, or in exchange for a request.

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Babushkin visited Dadayev on Sunday in Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, where he is being detained along with four other suspects. Babushkin says Dadayev has "numerous wounds on his body."

During the visit, Dadayev also told Babushkin that after he was nabbed on March 5, prison officers starved him and only allowed him a few sips of water three or four times a day. He also said he was left hooded, until he was taken to a Moscow court for appearance last Sunday, where he was tagged as the assassin.

The main suspect's two cousins are also among the five men arrested and jailed for Nemtsov's death. The three are all Chechens.

Anzor Gubashev, allegedly the driver of the vehicle used to flee the crime scene, sustained cuts on his nose, wrists and legs, after he was taken into custody. His brother, Shagid Gubashev, who is also in prison for the same case, told Babushkin that his brother Anzor had been beaten up and forced to own up to the murder of Nemtsov.

These accounts made Babushkin believe, Dadayev and the Gubashevs were tortured.

There is a person whose role in the charge leaves Dadayev puzzled. He told Babushkin that the sixth person, Yusupov Rustam, who was initially arrested along with their group, had disappeared. Dadayev had asked Babushkin to try to locate the whereabouts of Rustam.

Babushkin has reason to believe the story shared to him by Dadayev. Before Dadayev was linked to Nemtsov's slay, he was a lieutenant in the Russian Interior Ministry's armed forces in Chechnya and was decorated for bravery.

Rustam used to be Dadayev's subordinate.

Dadayev had told Babushkin that he agreed to confess to the killing of Nemtsov in exchange for the promise that his former underling would be released unharmed.

The reports of Babushkin are posted in the website of the investigative body where he belongs.

The council bears the long official name, "Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights."

Babuskin's narration is backed up Eva Merkacheva, by another council member, who had accompanied him to the prison visit.

Now the motives of the two are being questioned by government. They were told that they could have violated the law and that they could face charges of trying to hinder the investigation of a crime. Should they be found guilty, the could be punished with a jail term of up to six months.

The Presidential council is known to exercise a certain degree of independence and is viewed as serious in looking into human rights issues like the treatment of prisoners. However, this reputation alone does not make its members immune from any criminal liability.

TagsBoris Nemtsov, Chechnya, Russia, Zaur Dadayev