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Germany: Russian man guilty of Chechen dissident murder plot

August 31, 2023

A Russian man has been convicted of plotting to kill a dissident on the orders of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The murder was to have taken place in Germany, where the plotter is based.

https://p.dw.com/p/4VnLF
Plaques with 'Oberlandesgericht München' on it at the Upper Regional Court in Munich
The trial took place in the southern German city of MunichImage: Matthias Balk/dpa/picture alliance

A German court on Thursday sentenced a Russian man to 10 years in prison for plotting to murder a Chechen dissident in Germany.

The planned killing came as a commission from the regime of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a key Kremlin ally.

The 47-year-old defendant, named only as Valid D. under German privacy laws, was convicted 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.

Federal prosecutors had called for an 11-year sentence for the murder plot, which was never carried out.

What do we know about the plot?

According to prosecutors, Valid D. was commissioned to organize the murder by "a member of the security apparatus of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov" in the first half of 2020.

German media say the intended target was Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, the brother of exiled Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who lives in Sweden.

Valid D. is said to have obtained a firearm and ammunition to carry out the killing and selected a hitman, as well as arranging for the latter to be brought to Germany and carrying out shooting exercises with him.

He also allegedly spied on the target and his home.

The murder was prepared "with the knowledge, approval and interest" of Kadyrov, said the presiding judge, Christoph Wiesner.

The aim had been to silence not just the intended victim but also his brother in Sweden, Wiesner said.

Valid D. was arrested in 2021.

tj/rt (AFP, dpa)

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