Boris Nemtsov, a Russian physicist, statesman and liberal politician, was a true Russian patriot who was shot dead in February 2015. Boris believed that Russia had taken a seriously wrong turn under the reign of Vladimir Putin, and he regularly criticized the policies and authoritarianism that he felt were threatening his country's future. He sought to expose the corruption and wrongdoings of the Putin regime and issued regular reports. One of the issues Boris believed in passionately was the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act, which the U.S. Congress passed in 2012 and President Obama signed into law that December. On numerous occasions, Boris stressed that this legislation was not anti-Russian, but in fact was pro-Russian because it targeted individuals who engaged in gross human rights abuses, including the murder of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. One of the most important ways to remember Boris is to demonstrate solidarity with Russian democracy and human rights activists who understand the threat posed by Putin's authoritarianism to their pursuit of a better future.
