German ambassador explains the German Prosecutor’s Office’s comment regarding the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili
By Anastasia Sokhadze
Friday, June 19
According to the Ambassador of Germany to Georgia, the prosecutor's office used a wording that was not optimal and could have been better. The German Prosecutor's Office tried to quote the victim while describing the Georgian government.
“When Khangoshvili explained why he was in Germany, he said that he was against the so-called pro-Russian government of Georgia. It’s unfortunate that it seemed as if we characterized the political orientation of the Georgian government, it was not our intention,” stated Knirsch.
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office has charged the Georgian citizen with the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, also known as Tornike Kavtarashvili. The statement made by the Prosecutor’s Office claims that the accused committed the crime on the orders of the Russian authorities.
According to the prosecutor's office, the Russian authorities have ordered Khangoshvili to be liquidated.
“The assassination attempt was preceded by the victim's oppositional attitude towards the Russian state, the governments of the Chechen and Ingush republics, as well as the pro-Russian government of Georgia,” the statement said.
The text also states that Khangoshvili fought on the side of the Chechen separatists against the Federal Army, and in 2008 in South Ossetia he gathered a group of warriors with Russia.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was killed in Germany on August 23rd, 2019. His murderer was soon arrested and was eventually proven to be a citizen of Russia.
The statement of the prosecutor's office does not say the name of the accused in the murder and only mentions Vadim K. According to the journalistic investigation carried out by Bellingcat in December 2019, the name of the murderer is Vadim Krasikov, who arrived in Germany with a passport issued in the name of Vadim Sokolov.
According to the text of the German investigation agency, Vadim Krasikov first left Moscow for Paris on August 17th and then moved to Warsaw on August 20th. From Poland he left for Berlin on an unknown route on June 22nd. To enter the Schengen area, he used Vadim Sokolov's passport issued by the Russian Immigration Service in Bryansk on July 18th, 2019.
On August 23rd, in one of the parks in Berlin, Vadim Krasikov followed Zelimkhan Khangoshvili with a bicycle, and when he approached, he fired a Glock 26 weapon. According to the prosecutor's office, Khangoshvili fell to the ground, the accused also fell off the bicycle, but soon approached Khangoshvili and shot him twice in the head. Khangoshvili died on the spot.
The Russian government denies any involvement in Khangoshvili's liquidation. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin called him a ‘militant’ and said he was guilty of blowing up the Moscow metro. According to him, Russia demanded the extradition of Khangoshvili from Germany and Germany refused it.
