BERLIN. June 18 (Interfax) - The Office of Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor General has indicted a Russian citizen implicated in perpetrating a high-profile murder in the Berlin Tiergarten area, the agency said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Thursday.
"On June 18, 2020, the Office of the Federal Public Prosecutor General brought charges against Russian citizen Vadim K., also known as Vadim S., in the State Security Senate of Berlin's Higher Regional Court," the statement said.
The suspect "was ordered by a central government agency of the Russian Federation to kill Tornike K., a Georgian citizen of Chechen origin," it said.
"The 'order' was given because Tornike K., aka Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, fought for Chechen separatists in the war of 2000-2004. According to investigators, Russian law enforcement agencies viewed Tornike K. as a terrorist and suspected him of being a member of the Caucasus Emirate terrorist group," the statement said.
The man is suspected of committing the murder and violating arms possession laws.
Khangoshvili, a participant in the armed conflict in Chechnya, was killed in Berlin in summer 2019. He was shot dead in the central Berlin area of Tiergarten on his way to a mosque. A Russian citizen was detained on suspicion of murder. German authorities said they had asked Russia for assistance in the inquiry, but Russia refused to provide any information. Thus, Germany declared two officers of the Russian embassy in Berlin personae non gratae. Russia retaliated against this move by expelling two officers of the German embassy in Moscow.