A prisoner exchange took place on Thursday, August 1, between Russia and the West. This exchange concerns 26 people, including several Americans, including the journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia since 2023. But also Vadim Krasikov, released by Germany. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder in the city center of Berlin of a former Chechen separatist commander. Vladimir Putin wanted Vadim Krasikov’s release at all costs.
3 min
With our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut
“ This decision was not easy for our government,” Olaf Scholz’s spokesman acknowledged in a statement. Berlin had to make a ” difficult arbitration » : keep in prison Vadim Krasikov Or allow the release of innocent people imprisoned in Russia? Talks have been going on for months between Berlin, Moscow and Washington. Germany was initially reluctant, but eventually agreed to a possible release of Krasikov by upping the ante by demanding that Vladimir Putin release Russian opposition figure Navalny. But Navalny died in prison in Russia in February.
Read alsoLarge prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, including journalist Evan Gershkovich
The conviction of the journalist of Wall Street JournalEvan Gershkovich, in June to sixteen years in prison has relaunched the discussions. In April, an administration had already decided that Vadim Krasikov should be deported because of the danger he posed to Germany. The Minister of Justice asked the federal prosecutor’s office to waive the execution of the sentence, which allowed the deportation of the killer to be legally covered.
The German section of Amnesty International said the decision left ” a bitter taste ” and risked reinforcing the feeling ” of impunity ” Moscow judicial system. This large-scale exchange allows Germany to obtain the release of four of its fellow citizens imprisoned in Russia.
Fifth German sentenced to death for ” terrorism ” then pardoned on Tuesday, was himself in detention in Belarus, a country allied with Russia. Germany urged the authorities of these two countries to “ release all other persons unjustly detained for political reasons “.
Many of the prisoners released from Russia “feared for their lives”
The prisoners released from Russia and Belarus in the vast exchange “feared for their lives,” the German chancellor said after welcoming several of them at Cologne airport from Ankara.
” It was very moving “, Olaf Scholz told the press after the closed-door meeting, because ” many did not expect that “their liberation” happening now ” And ” Many feared for their health and also for their lives, it must be said “.
The plane that landed in Cologne included five German or Russian-German dual national prisoners who were part of the exchange negotiated for months between the West and Moscow.
They are Rico Krieger, convicted by Minsk of “terrorism” and “mercenarism”, Kevin Lik, a 19-year-old Russian-German found guilty of “high treason”, Patrick Schoebel, a tourist accused of drug trafficking, German Moïjes, a Russian-German lawyer, and Dieter Voronin, a Russian-German political scientist.
Russian artist Alexandra Skotchilenko was also on board the plane, according to her relatives. Aged 33, she was arrested in Russia in April 2022 for replacing price labels in a supermarket with messages denouncing the offensive in Ukraine, which earned her seven years in prison in November 2023.
Read alsoRussia: Artist Alexandra Skotchilenko sentenced to 7 years in prison