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German Foreign Minister Annalen Berbock said he had summoned the Russian ambassador to announce that Germany was expelling two Russian diplomats in response to the court ruling.
“This state-ordered murder, as the court found today, is a serious violation of German law and sovereignty,” the minister told reporters.
German citizen Vadim Krasikov was found guilty by a German court on Wednesday Georgia the murder of the citizen’s ethnic Chechen Zelimhan “Tornikes” in Hangoshvili in August 2019 in one of the parks in Berlin.
Krasikov has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court said that the crime committed by Krasikov, which the prosecutor’s office considers to be commissioned by the Russian security service, was particularly serious.
“Four children lost their father, two people lost their brother,” the judge said.
Several media outlets reported that Russia or even the President of Russia was being tried here Vladimir Putin, but it is misleading, the judge pointed out. However, he emphasized that the court’s task was to consider the circumstances of the crime.
Zelimhan Hangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen, was shot dead on August 23, 2018, in Little Tirtharten Park in Berlin. Police arrested Krasikov later that day.
Shortly after the assassination, the then German Chancellor Angela Merkele expelled two Russian diplomats in protest of Moscow’s refusal to cooperate with investigators.
Russia responded with symmetrical countermeasures, denying allegations of involvement in the murder.
Putin described Hangoshville as “a militant, very cruel and bloody.” He joined the separatists who fought against Russia in the Caucasus and was involved in the bombing of the Moscow metro.
Moscow also claimed to have requested his extradition.
According to German media, Hangosvili survived two attempts to kill him in Georgia, but then sought asylum in Germany, where he lived for several years.
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