About 20 representatives of the Chechen Diaspora held a protest in front of the German and US consulates in Strasbourg, France. They expressed their negative reaction to the German authorities sending intelligence agent Vadim Krasikov to Russia, who received a life sentence for the murder of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
The protesters held flags of Ichkeria, as well as posters with the names of political prisoners from the North Caucasus republics held in Russian colonies. Among them were Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, and the mother of Chechen oppositionists Zarema Musayeva, who received a sentence for a fight with a riot policeman at a rally in support of politician Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Said-Mukhammad Djumaev.
"The German authorities, where the killer committed the crime and served his sentence, did not notify the Chechen diaspora, the government of Ichkeria, or even the Khangoshvili family about this. Finally, there is not a single native of Chechnya or the North Caucasus on the list of those exchanged," said Shamil Albakov, Consul of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria abroad. He noted that he was happy for the lives of several human rights activists, in particular, Oleg Orlov, an employee of the Memorial Human Rights Center, who were saved.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on the prisoner exchange between the Russian Federation and Western countries. He confirmed that one of those returned, Vadim Krasikov, is an FSB officer who served in the Alpha special forces unit, including with several members of the presidential security service. Recall that Vadim Sokolov (Krasikov) received a life sentence for murder in Germany in 2021.
The crime was committed on August 23, 2019, in Berlin's Small Tiergarten park. According to investigators, Krasikov rode up to the victim on a bicycle and fired two shots. He was arrested and brought to justice the same day. The media reported that the killer was an FSB officer and was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
The relatives of the murdered man called the killer's return to Russia "devastating news."
"On the one hand, we are glad that someone's life was saved. At the same time, we are very disappointed that there seems to be no law in the world, even in countries where the law is the highest authority," the statement published by Deutsche Welle (DW) said, citing the family's lawyer.
German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said that the decision to participate in the prisoner exchange between Western countries and Russia was not an easy one for the German authorities, especially with regard to Vadim Krasikov.
"We refrained from carrying out the sentence of a lawfully convicted murderer. This is bittersweet," Bushman said.
