German federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they are taking over investigations into the murder of a Georgian asylum-seeker in Berlin, confirming earlier reports.
With Berlin’s attorney general saying evidence points to Russian state involvement, pressure is likely to mount on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to send a strong signal to Moscow.
What we know so far:
- Prosecutors said there is “sufficient evidence” to indicate that the man’s murder was carried out on the behalf of the Russian state or by Chechnya.
- The German Foreign Ministry also announced that two employees at Russia’s embassy in Berlin had been designated personae non grate and were expelled.
- The names and positions of the diplomats were not given, although the ministry said it took the move after Russian authorities failed to “cooperate sufficiently” in the murder investigation.
- Russia’s foreign ministry called the move to expel the diplomats an “unfriendly, groundless step” and vowed to respond.
Suspicions from beginning
In late August, 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was shot in an “execution-style” killing at Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten park. The suspect in the case, a 49-year-old Russian national, carried out the drive-by shooting on a bicycle in broad daylight — shooting the victim in the head and chest, prosecutors said.
The killing drew suspicion of Russian involvement from the beginning, although Moscow had denied any involvement.
Who was the victim?
Khangoshvili was an asylum-seeker of Chechen descent from Georgia who fought against the Russians as a separatist during the Second Chechen War from 1999 – 2009. He was also known by a second identity “Tornike K.” which was the one used by German prosecutors. After the war, he reportedly worked in both Ukraine and Georgia against Russian interests.
In their statement, German prosecutors said he was “classified as a terrorist by Russian authorities and persecuted as such.”
He applied for asylum in Germany in 2016 following multiple attempts on his life in Georgia. His asylum application, however, was denied and he was slated for deportation. Khangoshvili’s ex-wife, Manana Tsatieva, previously told DW: “We were warned that this would happen eventually.”
Berlin discussing ‘further consequences’
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer welcomed the federal prosecutor’s decision to take on the murder case on Wednesday.
“That says something about the significance of this crime. The government is still discussing what further consequences we will draw from this,” he told a press conference in Berlin.”
Roderich Kiesewetter, foreign policy expert with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said the government made the right decision in expelling the Russian diplomats.
“Russia failed to work in a trustworthy way with German authorities and to deliver information about the suspect,” Kiesewetter told DW. “The expulsion of two Russian diplomats is therefore a proportionate and consequential response.”
He added that now that the Russian state has been implicated in the crime, Moscow should start cooperating in the case “to avoid a further loss of confidence.”
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="400" width="600" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
The suspected killer threw his bike, disguise and weapon in a nearby river shortly after carrying out the drive-by shooting on August 28
Political implications
Federal prosecutors in Germany take over investigations when there is a strong suspicion of involvement by a foreign state.
The case threatens to worsen already heightened tensions between Berlin and Moscow. It also follows the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, and his daughter who were poisoned with a nerve agent on British soil last year.
That attack was also blamed on Moscow — leading to the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats and triggered a diplomatic crisis between the UK and Russia.
DW’s Marc Erath contributed reporting.
rs/rt (dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP)
Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day’s news and features. Sign up here.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-expels-russian-diplomats-after-murder-in-berlin/a-51527185?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf