Belarus Spectacular prisoner exchange between Moscow and the West
Russia, Belarus and several Western countries have exchanged a total of 26 prisoners in an unprecedented operation involving the Turkish secret service MIT.
01.08.2024, 22:59
SDA
In return for the release of political prisoners and Kremlin critics, Germany, the USA and partner countries let a convicted murderer and suspected espionage agents from Russia go.
Germany handed over the so-called Tiergarten murderer at the airport in the Turkish capital Ankara. Belarus released the German Rico K., who was initially sentenced to death and later pardoned. The German Patrick S., who had been arrested at St. Petersburg airport for having cannabis gummy bears in his luggage, was also handed over to Germany. Russia also released "Wall Street Journal" correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who had been convicted of espionage, and former US soldier Paul Whelan.
Scholz interrupts vacation - Putin receives returnees
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) interrupted his vacation and plans to meet with released prisoners at Cologne/Bonn Airport late Thursday evening. Beforehand, he said: "Nobody has made this decision to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years in prison an easy one." The difficult decision had been taken jointly by the coalition after careful deliberation and consideration.
Scholz spoke of an obligation to protect German citizens and solidarity with the USA. According to government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit, the deal with Russia was only possible "by transferring Russian nationals with a secret service background who were in custody in Europe".
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally received Russians released by the West in Moscow on Thursday evening. The Kremlin leader embraced at least one of the men on the tarmac, where the presidential guard was standing guard, as TV pictures published by the Kremlin showed. A total of ten people were handed over to Russia, including two children according to Turkish sources - their ages were not disclosed. On the other hand, five Germans, three US citizens, one person with a US work and residence permit (green card) and seven Russian citizens were released, including prominent Kremlin opponents such as Vladimir Kara-Mursa and Ilya Yashin.
Biden thanks Scholz
US President Joe Biden appeared before the cameras in Washington together with relatives of the Americans released from Russian custody: "Above all, I owe the Federal Chancellor a great debt of gratitude." In view of the demands from Russia, he had had to ask for "considerable concessions" from Germany. Several partners had made "courageous" decisions by releasing prisoners who had been rightly detained in their countries - in order to bring Americans home in the end.
Secret service speaks of historic operation
According to the MIT, the 26 prisoners had previously been flown to Ankara from Russia, the USA, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia, where they had been detained. All of them were initially taken to safe places and medically examined, and documents were signed. In the end, ten people were flown to Russia. 13 of those affected were flown to Germany and three to the USA, the report continued. The secret service spoke of a historic exchange and the most extensive between Russia, the USA and Germany in recent history.
In addition to Rico K. and Patrick S., the German citizens who were released include 19-year-old German-Russian Kevin L. and political scientist Demuri W., who were both convicted of treason, and activist German M., who was charged with treason.
Information about the exchange had become more and more concentrated
Speculation about a major prisoner exchange had been growing for days. There had been reports of numerous political prisoners in Russia being transferred to unknown locations, including the former heads of the regional staff of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in custody. Since Wednesday evening, information about a major international deal has become increasingly clear.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who has been criticized for using political prisoners as hostages in order to free Russians from Western prisons, had recently repeatedly declared his willingness to make an exchange. Putin was particularly interested in the "Tiergarten murderer" imprisoned in Germany.
Various events have recently indicated movement in the matter: Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a short trial for alleged espionage just two weeks ago after a long pre-trial detention in Russia. On the same day, a Russian court sentenced the US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who according to the US was also released, to six and a half years in prison for allegedly reporting false information about the army.
Observers in Moscow interpreted Gershkovich's swift sentencing as a possible indication that an agreement on a prisoner exchange could soon be reached. As a rule, according to Russian judicial practice, a sentence must be passed before an exchange can take place.
Death sentence against German just overturned
Also on the day the two US journalists were sentenced, it became public that the German Rico K. was sentenced to death in Russia's allied neighbor Belarus. A few days ago, ruler Alexander Lukashenko overturned the sentence after the German was shown a video on Belarusian state television in which he pleaded guilty and asked for clemency. There had also been speculation here that an exchange for the "zoo murderer" Wadim K. could possibly be negotiated behind the scenes.
"Tiergarten murderer" was last imprisoned in Offenburg
Wadim K. murdered a Georgian man in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in Berlin in 2019. The Berlin Court of Appeal sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2021. Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly defended the murderer because, in Russia's view, he had eliminated an enemy of the state. Russian authorities had classified him as a Chechen terrorist. There had been repeated speculation that Putin wanted to free K. as part of a prisoner exchange.
According to dpa information, Wadim K., who had been transferred several times from one prison to another for security reasons, was last held in Offenburg in Baden-Württemberg. The decision to release him was not made by Jens Rommel, the Attorney General responsible for such cases, but by the Federal Ministry of Justice. In response to an inquiry, a spokeswoman said that the Federal Public Prosecutor General was generally responsible for suspending the execution of sentences. However, in the case of Wadim K., the ministry had instructed him in writing last Monday to suspend the execution in order to enable the prisoner exchange.
