Germany expels two Russian diplomats over murder of Georgian man of Chechen origin in Berlin
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili applied for asylum in Germany in 2017, saying his life was in danger. Photo: Zurab Kurtsikidze/EPA.
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Germany has expelled two Russian citizens working in the Russian embassy in Berlin for their alleged involvement in the murder of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in the summer, pointing at possible involvement of either Russian of Chechen authorities in the case.
Khangoshvili, 40, who was shot dead in the Kleiner Tiergarten Park, Berlin, on August 23, was a field commander during the second Chechen War (1999-2009), which is why he was wanted and continuously persecuted by Russia.
The Guardian reads that German federal prosecutors “concluded that evidence suggests involvement either by the government of Russia or the Chechen republic,” in the murder.
The media outlet says that Russia refused to cooperate with German law enforcement to solve the case.
RTE says that the killing has been compared with the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Britain last year with a nerve agent, widely blamed on Russian intelligence.
Foreign media reads that Russia has taken the German decision on Khangoshvili's case as "unfriendly and unfounded." Photo: REX.
The Telegraph reads that a suspected killer was captured by police attempting to dispose of a gun believed to be the murder weapon in the nearby river Spree.
He was carrying a Russian passport which identified him as Vadim Sokolov, but German prosecutors on Wednesday confirmed that they now believe that is a false identity,” the Telegraph says, adding that police findings indicate that it is “highly likely” the arrested man is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian national previously wanted for the murder of a businessman in Moscow in 2013.
Khangoshvili spent several years living in Georgia under the name of Tornike Kavtarashvili.
He was also involved in the notorious Lapankuri special operation in the Lopota gorge, near the Georgia-Russia border in August 2012.
Khangoshvili was shot in May, 2015 and underwent surgery in Tbilisi, Georgia [after which he fled to Ukraine].
He requested asylum in Germany in 2017 and spent the past few years in Berlin.
Moscow has denied any link to the assassination of an ethnic Chechen citizen of Georgia Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a veteran of the second Chechen War. Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, 40, was shot dead on August 23 in Germany, while he was on his way to Friday prayers. Kremlin press-speaker Dmitry Peskov said on August 28 that Russia “categorically denies any link between Russia and the incident.”
German police have arrested a Russian national, 49, who faces charges for the murder of Georgian citizen, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a native of Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge by origin. Veteran of the Second Chechen War (1999-2009) Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, 40, was shot on August 23 in Berlin was on his way to Friday prayers.
Turkish court has released ten individuals, including one Georgian citizen detained for alleged contacts with the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The 14-year-old son of Ahmad Pareulidze, who served as the chief guard of Georgian-born ISIS top terrorist Omar Al-Shishani, has died in Syria, Pankisi radio reported.
Russia has declared two employees of the German embassy in Russia as persona non grata and summoned the German ambassador as a response to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Germany over the murder of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in the summer.
Bellingcat, an investigative journalism website, writes that its months-long investigation, with The Insider and Der Spiegel, has uncovered that the assassination of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin last August ‘was planned and organized by Russia’s FSB security agency.’
The Public Prosecutor General of Germany has indicted a suspect for killing Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, stating that Russian central governmental federal offices put out the hit on Khangoshvili, which was carried out by Russian citizen Vadim K. in August 2019.
The Embassy of Germany to Georgia says that the Federal Prosecution of Germany used ‘unclear phrasing when it called the Georgian government ‘pro-Russian’ in the statement related to the murder of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin.
Investigative journalism website Bellingcat announced today that ‘the suspected accomplice’ in the assassination of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin last August has been identified.
Germany has expelled two Russian diplomats and summoned the Russian ambassador after Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin back in 2019.