A year ago tomorrow, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot and killed in downtown Moscow, in view of the Kremlin. Today, in honor of the assassinated former deputy prime minister, deputies in Russia's State Duma rejected a proposal to observe a minute of silence.
The Duma only honors the dead when Russia's president declares a day of mourning, argued deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky (the leader of a rightwing political party). Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin agreed, saying the legislature would stick to this practice, despite the political resonance of Nemtsov's murder.