Russian man convicted over Chechen dissident murder plot in Germany
A Russian man based in Germany was found guilty on Thursday of plotting to kill a Chechen dissident on the orders of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The defendant, named as Valid D., was sentenced to 10 years in jail for "willingness to commit murder and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state", a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in Munich said.
Prosecutors said Valid D. was commissioned to organise the killing by "a member of the security apparatus of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov" in the first half of 2020.
According to German media reports, the target was Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, the brother of exiled Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who lives in Sweden.
Prosecutors said the planned murder of the dissident in Germany "was intended to silence not only him, but also his brother who lived in Sweden".
Valid D. is accused of procuring a weapon, selecting a hitman to carry out the murder and arranging for him to be brought to Germany.
He also allegedly spied on the target and his home as well as carrying out shooting exercises with the intended killer.
Valid D. was arrested in 2021.
The case unfolded alongside another high-profile "hitman" trial, in which a Russian man was accused of shooting dead a former Chechen commander in Berlin on the orders of Moscow.
Kremlin ally
Vadim Krasikov, alias Vadim Sokolov, was sentenced to life in jail in late 2021 for gunning down Georgian national Tornike Kavtarashvili, 40, in a Berlin park in broad daylight.
READ ALSO: Police probe Geogian's 'execution' in Berlin park
Relations between Russia and Germany have become increasingly fraught since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The two countries have been at odds over several cases of alleged spying as well as cyberattacks.
Chechen strongman Kadyrov, a former rebel turned Kremlin ally, has given his backing to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, sending his notorious fighters to the country.
In contrast to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash after staging a short-lived mutiny, Kadyrov has remained staunchly loyal to the Kremlin.
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim part of Russia. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with many Chechens heading for western Europe.
But more Chechens have fled into exile in recent years because of disagreements with Kadyrov, who activists accuse of repeated rights violations.
A string of murders of Chechen dissidents have also rattled European host nations in recent years.
A Chechen man was handed a life sentence in Austria in 2021 after being convicted of murdering a Chechen dissident.
Mamikhan Umarov, a 43-year-old asylum seeker and a vocal critic of the Chechen Republic's government, was found dead with gunshot wounds near Vienna in July 2020.
In January 2020, Imran Aliev, 44, a blogger at times critical of the Chechen leadership, was found stabbed to death in a hotel room close to the train station in France's northern city of Lille.
Several Chechen dissidents have also been targeted in Turkey.
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The defendant, named as Valid D., was sentenced to 10 years in jail for "willingness to commit murder and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state", a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in Munich said.
Prosecutors said Valid D. was commissioned to organise the killing by "a member of the security apparatus of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov" in the first half of 2020.
According to German media reports, the target was Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, the brother of exiled Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who lives in Sweden.
Prosecutors said the planned murder of the dissident in Germany "was intended to silence not only him, but also his brother who lived in Sweden".
Valid D. is accused of procuring a weapon, selecting a hitman to carry out the murder and arranging for him to be brought to Germany.
He also allegedly spied on the target and his home as well as carrying out shooting exercises with the intended killer.
Valid D. was arrested in 2021.
The case unfolded alongside another high-profile "hitman" trial, in which a Russian man was accused of shooting dead a former Chechen commander in Berlin on the orders of Moscow.
Kremlin ally
Vadim Krasikov, alias Vadim Sokolov, was sentenced to life in jail in late 2021 for gunning down Georgian national Tornike Kavtarashvili, 40, in a Berlin park in broad daylight.
READ ALSO: Police probe Geogian's 'execution' in Berlin park
Relations between Russia and Germany have become increasingly fraught since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The two countries have been at odds over several cases of alleged spying as well as cyberattacks.
Chechen strongman Kadyrov, a former rebel turned Kremlin ally, has given his backing to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, sending his notorious fighters to the country.
In contrast to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash after staging a short-lived mutiny, Kadyrov has remained staunchly loyal to the Kremlin.
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim part of Russia. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with many Chechens heading for western Europe.
But more Chechens have fled into exile in recent years because of disagreements with Kadyrov, who activists accuse of repeated rights violations.
A string of murders of Chechen dissidents have also rattled European host nations in recent years.
A Chechen man was handed a life sentence in Austria in 2021 after being convicted of murdering a Chechen dissident.
Mamikhan Umarov, a 43-year-old asylum seeker and a vocal critic of the Chechen Republic's government, was found dead with gunshot wounds near Vienna in July 2020.
In January 2020, Imran Aliev, 44, a blogger at times critical of the Chechen leadership, was found stabbed to death in a hotel room close to the train station in France's northern city of Lille.
Several Chechen dissidents have also been targeted in Turkey.
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