23:30, 3 December 2019

German prosecutors suspect Chechen authorities of involvement in Zelimkhan Khangoshvili's murder

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili. Screenshot from video posted at: http://rustavi2.ge/en/news/17600

The authorities of Russia or Chechnya could hire a killer to murder Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, the German Prosecutor's Office suggests.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a native of the Pankisi Gorge, who took part in the second Chechen campaign, was shot dead in Berlin on August 23. A 49-year-old Russian citizen was arrested on suspicion of the murder. According to a number of signs, the arrested person is affiliated with the Russian special services, reported the Russian "The Insider", the journalistic group "Bellingcat", and the German Der Spiegel the results of their joint journalistic investigation.

The German authorities bore a share of responsibility for the death of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, since they did not grant him asylum and included him in the list of extremists, said members of the Chechen Diaspora at a rally held in Berlin on September 4.

The General Prosecutor's Office of the Federal Republic of Germany will investigate the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, since the German law enforcement authorities suspect that the Russian authorities are involved in the crime, the "Interfax" reports today with reference to the WDR and NDR TV Channels and Sueddeutsche Zeitung. According to the Prosecutor's Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, "the Russian state or the state bodies of the Chechen Republic could give an order for the murder in the district of Moabit in Berlin."

According to the joint journalistic investigation carried out by the Russian "The Insider", the journalistic group "Bellingcat", and the German Der Spiegel, the murderer of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili left Germany with a fake Russian passport in the name of Vadim Sokolov. He would not succeed in doing that without the help of some influential patrons.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 3, 2019 at 05:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.