Georgian murder: Investigators are waiting for Russian cooperation

Have government agencies in Russia ordered a murder in Berlin? The Berlin Chamber Court will soon have to clarify this. The act has triggered a diplomatic crisis, which could worsen.

Berlin (dpa) - More than nine months after the alleged order murder of a Georgian in Berlin, German investigators are still waiting for Russian support in the investigation.

Two requests for mutual legal assistance from the Berlin public prosecutor's office in December 2019 had "not yet been answered in terms of content by the Russian Federation," it said in a response from the Federal Ministry of Justice to a request from the Left Bundestag MEP Sevim Dagdelen, which is available to the German Press Agency.

The murder had triggered a crisis in German-Russian relations last year. On August 23, the 40-year-old Georgian of Chechen origin was shot at close range from a bicycle in the Little Zoo in Berlin-Moabit. An urgently suspected Russian was caught the same day and has been in custody since then. According to media reports, he is said to have had close contacts with the Russian domestic secret service FSB.

The Attorney General pulled the investigation early in December because he saw evidence that Russian government agencies had ordered the crime. He is expected to file charges in the Berlin Chamber Court in the next few weeks. A normal murder trial would be conducted at the Berlin district court.

The federal government had already accused Russia of lacking cooperation in investigating the murder in December and therefore expelled two Russian diplomats. Moscow responded by expelling two German diplomats.

At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a Ukraine summit in Paris, Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown himself willing to cooperate: "I agree with the Chancellor that we should clarify this together." Merkel said at the time: "I assume that the Russian side will provide its information to us, at least I would like that."

The hope of Russia's willingness to cooperate was disappointed. There was a Russian response to the request for legal assistance, but no information was provided on the case itself. According to the Ministry of Justice, the Russian public prosecutor's office turned to the Federal Office of Justice on December 31, 2019 and January 10, 2020. "Both letters request the German authorities to provide additional information because of the allegedly insufficiently substantiated evidence," wrote State Secretary Christian Lange in his answer to the left-wing question.

According to dpa information, the Attorney General answered Russian demand on February 19 through the Federal Office of Justice. According to the Ministry of Justice, the investigators have still not received the information requested in the request for legal assistance. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office had only informed that the relevant investigative committee of the Russian Federation had been commissioned with a "partial settlement" of the request. But only "as far as the implementation of the legislation of the Russian Federation does not contradict".

The Russian leadership sees the murdered Georgian, who is said to have fought on the side of the separatists in the Russian republic of Chechnya, as a terrorist. Putin described him as a "bandit" and "murderer", as "bloodthirsty and brutal man". The Federal Government has reserved further consequences in the case. Should there be a charge, this would mean that the suspicion of an order murder has been confirmed.

The left-wing politician Dagdelen blames the federal government for the Russian government's lack of willingness to cooperate. The expulsion of the Russian diplomats had made the joint investigation of the case difficult. Dagdelen now urges willingness to cooperate on both sides. "Mutual legal aid must work better in order to finally solve the crime and thus no longer encourage speculation."