SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 8.1.2024
This is what Vladimir Putin wanted all along to release his political prisoners.
Have his hired thug assassin Vadim Krasikov return to Russia. Krasikov gunned down a Chechen dissident execution style in broad daylight in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten Park in August 2019.
I am well familiar with this spot, having run and walked in the park during several trips to Berlin. The park is directly across the street from the Tiergarten Hotel where Liz and I stay when visiting Berlin.
Deutsche Welle 8.1.2024
Germany confirmed the prisoner swap with Russia involving the United States and European allies.
Among those returning to Russia was Vadim Krasikov, convicted in 2021 of shooting to death a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity in Kleiner Tiergarten Park in Berlin in August 2019.
The victim, 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was shot in an “execution-style” killing The killing was carried out the drive-by style shooting on a bicycle in broad daylight — shooting the victim in the head and chest, prosecutors said
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement the deal had involved close and trusting cooperation with the United States and European partners.
US President Joe Biden, when asked by reporters about what Germany wanted in return for its cooperation, replied: “nothing.”
According to the German statement, the exchange agreement secured the release of 15 people who were unlawfully detained in Russia and a German citizen, Rico K. who had been sentenced to death in Belarus.
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