Suspect arrested in Prague – Large funeral march for Ukrainian girl
36-year-old arrested in Prague
Successful manhunt after the death of little Valeriia: Police have arrested a 36-year-old man in Prague. He is strongly suspected of having killed the girl, the public prosecutor’s office in Chemnitz announced. The Moldovan had previously been wanted on the basis of a national and European arrest warrant.
Czech investigators have arrested a 36-year-old in the Valeriia case. Thousands of people mourned the little girl in the small Saxon town of Döbeln. Meanwhile, her father – a Ukrainian soldier – is on his way to Germany.
“We will never forget you,” Valeriia’s classmates wrote on a piece of paper and drew a rainbow underneath. The picture now leans against the town hall wall in Döbeln, along with flowers, stuffed animals and countless candles. After the police arrested a suspect in the case of the murder of Valeriia on Friday, around 2,500 people in the Saxon town remembered the girl that evening. Many people had tears in their eyes as they released white and pink balloons into the sky; parents held their children tightly in their arms. There was deep sadness, but also relief at the arrest.
The violent death of the nine-year-old has shocked many people across the country. The girl from Ukraine had sought refuge from the war in her homeland in Germany with her mother in 2022. On June 3, Valeriia had set out for school in the morning, but had not arrived for class.
A huge effort was made to search for her for days – a helicopter, drones, divers, special dogs and hundreds of police officers were deployed. On Tuesday, her body was found in the undergrowth in a forest. According to the police, she was the victim of a crime. According to investigators, the girl was found clothed and there is no evidence that she was sexually abused.
On Friday, investigators reported a successful manhunt. A 36-year-old man was arrested in a Prague restaurant at around 10:15 a.m. He is strongly suspected of having killed the girl, Police and prosecutors announced Chemnitz. The Moldovan had previously been wanted by national and European arrest warrant. He was in custody in the Czech Republic and was to be transferred to Germany as soon as possible, it was said. The criminal proceedings are ongoing for manslaughter. No further information was initially provided.
Around 2,500 people mourned Valeriia in Döbeln on Friday – they laid flowers at the town hall and released balloons
Source: dpa/Hendrik Schmidt
In recent days, the investigation has focused primarily on the girl’s social environment. According to Bild, the man arrested is the ex-boyfriend of Valeriia’s mother. The Chemnitz public prosecutor’s office initially declined to comment on Friday when asked by the German Press Agency.
The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported that the ex-boyfriend had contacted the mother on the morning of Valeriia’s disappearance. His cell phone was reportedly logged into a cell in Döbeln and he was filmed by the surveillance camera of a neighboring house. Newspaper It goes on to say that Valeriia’s father fought against Russia as a Ukrainian soldier. He was released from service and is now on his way to Germany.
Döbeln’s mayor Sven Liebhauser (CDU) during the memorial service for Valeriia
Source: dpa/Hendrik Schmidt
The Czech police wrote on Twitter on Friday afternoon that police in the city center of Prague had arrested a wanted man who was suspected of a violent crime in Germany. The criminal police and the immigration police in Prague are now communicating with the German police, they said.
Meanwhile, numerous questions remain unanswered – for example, about the motive and background of the violent crime, but also about the exact cause of death.
The people of Döbeln had actually planned to kick off their town festival on Friday evening with music, LED shows and carousel rides. But since the child was taken from this life so suddenly, hardly anyone in the town of 24,000 inhabitants is in the mood to celebrate. “Valeriia will never laugh at a festival again,” said Mayor Sven Liebhauser (CDU) at the memorial on the Obermarkt. It is also about showing the girl’s family: “You are not alone in your indescribable pain. We stand by your side. We mourn with you.”
At the same time, he, like many citizens, was relieved about the arrest. There was great uncertainty after the crime, Liebhauser told the dpa. “Now the relief is even greater.” Now we have to wait for further investigations.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster thanked the investigators after the swift arrest. “My thanks go in particular to the Chemnitz Police Department for the quick investigations and to the Czech colleagues for their good cooperation, as well as to all other police officers involved,” said the CDU politician, according to ministry sources in Dresden. He hoped “that with the arrest of a suspect, this terrible crime can be solved quickly.”