The murder of a Georgian in Berlin’s Tiergarten caused considerable tension even before the war in Ukraine. The Brittney Griner case apparently also involved Russians imprisoned in Germany.
During the negotiations on the release of US basketball player Brittney Griner and another American, Russia has allegedly requested the transfer of the Russian convicted in the so-called Tiergarten murder case, according to US information. “They have requested the surrender of a man (…), a murderer who is in custody in Germany,” National Security Council communications director John Kirby told ABC News on Sunday.
However, this was not considered a serious counteroffer by the United States. After all, Washington cannot intervene unless the man is in US custody. Already in July it was reported that Russia made the request to the United States through informal intelligence channels. The request was reportedly classified as problematic, among other things because the 57-year-old is in prison in Germany.
Moscow denies any blame
In August 2019, a Georgian was shot and killed in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten park. The Berlin Court of Appeal had sentenced the Russian author to life imprisonment. The judges were convinced that he was acting on behalf of the Russian state authorities. Russia denies these allegations. The so-called Tiergarten murder had led to diplomatic turmoil between Germany and Russia.
The United States and Russia carried out a new prisoner exchange on Thursday despite tensions between the two countries over the war in Ukraine. US basketball player Griner, sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, was swapped with Russian arms dealer Viktor But at Abu Dhabi airport. Negotiations about this had been going on for months. The United States also wants to free the American Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia. He was convicted of alleged espionage in 2018. (dpa)
