Russia's lower house of parliament has refused to hold a minute's silence for murdered opposition activist Boris Nemtsov, with only two MPs standing in a show of respect.
Opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov proposed that the lower house of the Duma hold a minute's silence at its first full session since the brazen assassination of one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics sent shockwaves around the world.
The 55-year-old former deputy prime minister, who was gunned down on a bridge opposite the Kremlin on February 27, was himself an MP from 1999 to 2003.
"Despite the fact that not everyone shared his political views, I think it would be the right thing to do on a human level to honour his memory with a minute of silence," Gudkov said.
But nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky objected: "Someone dies every week. Should the Duma stand up every time?"
Speaker Sergei Naryshkin threw out the proposal, saying he had sent a telegram to Nemtsov's family.
"For the record: the State Duma refused to announce a minute of silence over Nemtsov's murder. Only I and Valery Zubov stood up, no one else," Gudkov wrote on Twitter, referring to another member of his party.
The parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, held a minute's silence for Nemtsov on March 4.
Investigators have revealed few details of the probe into Nemtsov's murder since detaining five suspects earlier this month who are accused of carrying out a contract hit.
The prime suspect in the killing, former Chechen police officer Zaur Dadayev, initially confessed to the crime but later told a member of the Kremlin's rights council he had been tortured into doing so.
The allegations sparked a fierce reaction from Russia's powerful Investigative Committee which accused the council of meddling in its probe and threatened to investigate its motives.
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