BERLIN, June 18. /TASS/: The German Public Prosecutor’s Office has pressed charges against a Russian citizen suspected of murdering a Georgian man in Berlin in August 2019, the office informed on Thursday.
The suspect, Vadim S. or Vadim K., said to be a Russian national, is accused of murder and weapon trafficking. The prosecution believes that "at an unknown time, state bodies of the Russian central government gave the order to the accused to murder the Georgian national."
According to Germany, the order was given due to the "hostile attitude" of the victim, Tornike K., to the Russian central government, the government of Chechnya and Ingushetia, and "the pro-Russian government of Georgia." The prosecution recalled that the victim had participated in military operations against the federal government in Chechnya from 2000 until 2004 and was considered a terrorist in Russia. He was seeking asylum in Germany.
A 40-year-old Georgian citizen was gunned down in Berlin on August 23, 2019. The office of Berlin’s prosecutor later in the day informed of the detention of a suspect identified as a 49-year-old resident of Russia.
On December 4, 2019, the German Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of two Russian embassy staffers from Germany due to what was described as insufficient cooperation by the Russian authorities in investigating the killing of the Georgian national. Moscow responded in kind. Russia is denying any involvement in the organization of the crime.
