VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) The suspected murderer of a Chechen blogger in Austria will serve a prison term for another crime until 2021, a representative of the prosecutors' office in Korneuburg told Sputnik on Thursday.
A Russian citizen from the Chechen Republic, who sought asylum in Austria, was killed in a town near Vienna in early July. The investigators have identified the victim as 43-year-old Mamikhan Umarov, also known as Martin Beck, while the Austrian police have detained two suspects. The media later revealed that both suspects were Russian nationals from the Chechen Republic. Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's Chechen Republic, suggested that foreign security services had a role in the killing.
"The alleged shooter does not need to further stay in the pre-trial detention facility, since he is already in prison, serving a sentence for other crimes not related to the murder in Gerasdorf [until January 2021]," the representative said.
According to the representative, if the criminal proceedings in the case of the murder in Gerasdorf are not completed by this time, the court will decide whether to keep him in custody.
For another detainee, who presumably did not shoot but stood nearby, custody was extended until August 20, the official added.
When asked about a video that allegedly shows suspects identifying themselves as a Chechen blogger's relatives and claiming responsibility for his killing, the representative refused to comment on it, as the investigation is still ongoing.
The video, circulating online, shows over ten men confessing their involvement in Beck's murder and asking Kadyrov for forgiveness for the insults inflicted by the blogger against him.
On Wednesday, the spokesman of the Lower Austria region's police department, Johann Baumschlager, told Sputnik that the video would be included in the video in the ongoing investigation.
