German court sentences Russian man who plotted to kill Chechen critic

A Russian citizen who plotted the assassination of a Chechen dissident living in German exile was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday by a court in Munich, reported dpa.

The convicted man, identified only as Valid D, had plotted to kill Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov on the orders of a cousin of Chechen strongman ruler Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the court ruled.

Abdurakhmanov reacted to the verdict with resolution to continue his criticism of the Kadyrov regime in Chechnya: "I will continue my political activity."

According to the court's findings, D received the order for the murder between March and June 2020. He procured a live firearm and ammunition. He also recruited and instructed another man to carry out the deed.

Together, the two men scouted out the area around Abdurakhmanov's home in the southern German city of Augsburg in December 2020, according to the court.

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

Police arrested D in January 2021 after being tipped off to the plot.

The aim of the contract killing was to silence not only Abdurakhmanov himself, but also his well-known brother, who lives in Sweden, according to the court.

The brothers are both vocal critics of the Kadyrov regime in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Wiesner called it a "blood feud."

Wiesner said the plot showed "how the (Chechen) regime deals with its critics at home and abroad", with critical voices eliminated by force if necessary.

The judge said the "climate of fear" prevailing in Chechnya was "palpable" at the trial.

Prosecutors in June had demanded 11 years in prison for the accused plotter, while defence attorney had asked the court to acquit him.

The case is reminiscent of the August 2019 murder in Berlin's Tiergarten park of an ethnic Chechen Georgian who was an active opponent of Russia and Kadyrov's regime in Chechnya.

A Russian citizen believed to be working for Russian spy services was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Berlin court. The verdict described the murder as a state-ordered killing.

The murder caused diplomatic tensions between Germany and Russia, which denied playing a role in the killing.