The charge is “consent to commit murder,” commissioned by the state. The setting is a bit like “Tiergarten Murder” – only without murder. And again a Russian is on trial. This time before the Munich Higher Regional Court. On Wednesday, a Chechen regime critic testified how he had learned about the alleged assassination plans. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the accused Russian is said to have prepared the murder on behalf of a cousin, the Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov, who is loyal to Putin. However, he was arrested before the crime.
Kadyrov has been President of the Russian republic of Chechnya since 2007 and is linked to the murders of several critics. This time it should hit an opposition member living in Schwabmünchen near Augsburg, he is the brother of a well-known critic of the regime living in exile in Sweden.
The accused is said to have been responsible for the logistics and organization of the crime, and a second perpetrator was probably supposed to carry out the murder, which was originally scheduled for the end of 2020. The two recruited men are said to have ultimately successfully tried to postpone the crime. Tips to the police prevented the murder plan from being carried out.
According to the indictment, the Russian had organized a semi-automatic handgun with a silencer and ammunition for the murder of the regime critic. In addition, he is said to have tried to smuggle his alleged accomplice to Germany, which succeeded in a roundabout way. In preparation, both should have completed a target practice together. The Schwerin-based defendant, who is also accused of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state and of violating the Weapons Act, faces three to 15 years in prison. The trained lawyer is sitting in the Munich prison for the trial. He was silent at the start of the trial in mid-June.
They convinced the Russians to better go to the police
On Wednesday, the potential victim described how a man he did not know called him via a messenger service. “He said he has important information for me: that there is a person in Germany who is supposed to kill me but doesn’t want to do it.” Through this man, he then contacted the suspected assassin, who was housed in a refugee camp in northern Germany. He reported on the plan and that the 27-year-old’s place of residence and his jogging track had been spied on. “We took that very seriously.” He and his brother then convinced the assassin to go to the police.
His cousin is said to have ordered the assassination of the regime opponent in Germany: Ramzan Kadyrov, the ruler of Chechnya who is loyal to Russia.
(Photo: Yelena Afonina/Imago)
The case is reminiscent of the “Tiergarten murder” in Berlin. A Russian citizen was sentenced to life imprisonment in mid-December 2021 for the shooting of a Georgian in August 2019 in the Kleiner Tiergarten park. The court spoke of Russian “state terrorism”. According to the judges, the 56-year-old acted on behalf of Russian government agencies. Russia denied the allegations. The verdict caused diplomatic turmoil between Germany and Russia. Both states expelled several diplomats from the other country.