Germany expels two Russian diplomats after conviction of Russian citizen for murdering Georgian in Berlin
Khangoshvili was shot dead in Berlin's Tiergarten park in 2019. Photo: Zurab Kurtsikidze (EPA-EFE)
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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.
Prosecutors said that Krasikov murdered Khangoshvili on the orders of the Russian state security agency FSB, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported.
Khangoshvili was shot dead on August 23, 2019 in Berlin's Tiergarten park.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Khangoshvili of terrorism as the former was a field commander during the Second Chechen War (1999-2009).
The Russian security services claimed that Khangoshvili was involved in Moscow Metro bombings in 2010.
However, the judge in Berlin court noted that Khangoshvili 'had not held a weapon in his hands since 2008.'
Over Khangoshvili's murder case, Germany expelled two Russian diplomats back in December 2019, with Russia responding by expelling two German diplomats.
Russian high officials have dismissed their country’s connection with Khangoshvili's murder.
Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov has been sentenced to life in Germany for murder of Georgian citizen of Chechen origin Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin back in 2019, German media outlets have reported.
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.’
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.
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.