The verdict in the "Tiergarten murder" led to diplomatic complications between Russia and Germany.  Now it is a similar case.  Do the judges see Russian state terrorism here as well?
 
 Munich.  
Six months to the day after the verdict in the so-called "Tiergarten murder trial" begins this Wednesday (15. June, 10. oclock) before the Munich Higher Regional Court the process of a very similar case: 
 
On behalf of the Chechen government, the Russian Valid D. is said to have prepared the murder of an opposition member and critic of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is loyal to Putin.
 "Charge of consenting to murder on behalf of the state," writes the Attorney General in his statement.  He also accuses him of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state and of violating the Weapons Act.
 The Federal Public Prosecutors Office assumes that "a member of the security apparatus of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov" instructed the accused in the first half of the year 2020 to kill an opposition figure living in exile in Germany who together spoke out with his brother on social media for an independent Chechnya.  The aim of the planned act is said to have been "to silence the brother of the announced victim in particular".
 
 Expert Hess: "Tradition of Russian contract killings in Europe"
 "In principle, the case is similar to the Tiergarten murder," says Chechnya expert Miriam Katharina Hess from the German Council on Foreign Relations.  "You can place him in the tradition of Russian contract killings in Europe."
 A Russian man was sentenced to life imprisonment in mid-December 2021 for shooting a Georgian in August 2019 in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in Berlin.  The verdict spoke of "state terrorism": The judges were convinced that the 56-year-old acted on behalf of Russian state authorities.  Russia has denied such allegations.  The verdict led to diplomatic upheavals between Germany and Russia.  Both states expelled several diplomats from the other country.
 "The Tiergarten murder set a precedent for the Chechen community, because the courts there determined that it was Russian state terrorism."  Whether the Higher Regional Court of Munich will make a similar decision in the new case and also make the explicit connection to Russia, as the Berlin court did, is now the exciting question.
 
Persecution only with Putins approval possible
 "Of course you cant say directly: It was Putin," says Hess.  However, since 2006 there has been a law that states that the pursuit of domestic terrorists (and opposition figures are considered as such in Russia) can only take place with the express consent of the Russian President .  "It has to be signed by the head of the Russian central government - that is, Putin."  This results in evidence that could incriminate not only the Chechen President, but also the Russian President.
 "The procedure is always the same," says Hess. The target is always someone who is critical of the Russian government or the Kadyrov regime.  And then this regime looks for "a randomly selected person from the civilian population" who has no obvious connection to the Russian state apparatus.
 According to the prosecution, the man now accused is said to have promised to commit the crime.  According to the information, he obtained a firearm with ammunition and a silencer, found out the address of the victim and in the summer 2020 spied on his place of residence.
 
 Shooting practice with another assassin 
 He was supposed to get help with his project from another potential assassin, whom he smuggled from Chechnya to Germany, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor General, where the two are said to have carried out target practice with the murder weapon.  According to the Attorney General, the man only pretended to accept the order for fear of consequences and never intended to commit the assassination.  The accused was arrested before he could put his alleged plan into action.  The prosecution did not say what role his alleged accomplice played in the arrest.
 From the point of view of expert Hess, it is of great importance that cases like this are not only condemned politically, but also dealt with legally - "because these contract killings are simply increasing in Europe", at the latest since 2009 since Kadyrov was in power.  "This judicial processing and determination of guilt" is important and the German judiciary was courageous with the Berlin judgment.  "German case law is among those that are the most courageous and progressive."
 It is even possible that the Munich judges will be even clearer than the Berlin judges.  Last year, the resilience of German-Russian relations still played a role.  Things have changed since President Vladimir Putins war of aggression against Ukraine: "The question of resilience no longer arises."  (dpa)