MOSCOW. Aug 27 (Interfax) - The Georgian citizen who, according to media reports, was of Chechen ethnicity and was shot dead in Germany had long lost all connections with his place of birth, and Grozny has nothing to do with this incident, a source in Chechnya's authorities told Interfax.
"The victim left Chechnya a long time ago. He lost all connections with his place of birth. We have learned about the crime from the media," the source said, commenting on a theory of the German media that it was allegedly a contract killing and the victim was on the "execution list of Chechens living abroad."
A cyclist twice shot a 41-year-old man who was on his way to Friday prayers in Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten park, Moabit neighborhood, which is within walking distance from the German chancellor's secretariat and the Reichstag, on August 23. According to witnesses, the attacker first shot the victim in the back and then in the head.
The Berlin prosecutor's office said last Friday that a 48-year-old Russian man had been arrested on suspicion of killing a Georgian citizen. Meanwhile, German newspaper Bild reported that the victim was a Chechen native who "fought against the Russian troops during the Chechen war." "He is identified as a terrorist in Russia. German law enforcement agencies believe him to be an Islamist," it said, adding that the victim's name was Zelimkhan.
The family of the victim said unidentified criminals tried to poison him in 2009, and there was an attempt on his life in a shooting incident in Georgia in 2015. Following this, he sought asylum in Germany and used fake IDs under various names. He was denied asylum.
The suspected killer allegedly said whilst detained that he wanted to talk to a representative of the Russian embassy, Bild reported. Powered pepper was found in his bag, and investigators say they believe that he was attempting to foil sniffer dogs with it. The suspect fired the shots whilst riding a bicycle then dropped his gun and bike in the nearby river. Police arrested him while he was changing his clothes in some bushes.
The Russian man is currently being held in pre-trial custody.
The Russian embassy to Germany is maintaining contact with German law enforcement agencies regarding the criminal case opened against a Russian citizen who is charged with murder there.