German Chancellery Sent Requests to Russia Regarding Murder of Georgian National in Berlin

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) The German Chancellery and other numerous agencies have filed requests to Russia regarding the murder of a Georgian national in Berlin, though no response or assistance have been provided, the spokesman for the German government, Steffen Seibert, said on Monday

Germany has accused Russia of being involved in the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national of Chechen descent, who was killed on August 23 in Berlin. A 49-year-old Russian national was arrested for allegedly shooting the 40-year-old Georgian national. On December 4, the German Foreign Ministry expelled two Russian diplomats. Russia followed suit eight days later.

"Since late August, German agencies have sent numerous requests to Russia regarding the murder in Tiergarten, including the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service, the German Foreign Ministry, the German Chancellery.

They sent requests to a number of Russian agencies, including the Russian embassy in Germany, the FSB [Federal Security Service], the Foreign Intelligence Service, the GRU [Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian] Armed Forces and the presidential administration," Seibert said at a briefing.

He added that the Russian side had ignored these requests and the calls of the German government to facilitate the investigation.

Earlier in December, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, confirmed that Khangoshvili had been on the wanted list.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 10 that Russia had repeatedly asked Germany to extradite Khangoshvili, adding that the killed man had engaged in organizing deadly terror attacks. Putin voiced the belief that it was wrong to expel Russian diplomats over the matter and also pledged that Russia would assist the investigation.