Berlin. Russia has convicted a famous American journalist. Is this how the regime wants to free the Tiergarten killer?
In the end everything happened very quickly, after just three days of trial the verdict was announced in Yekaterinburg: The reporter of the “Wall Street Journal” Evan Gershkovich have to go to prison camp for 16 years under strict conditions. The trial of a Russian court was announced last Friday, the prosecution had already asked for 18 years in prison. The fact that the sentencing was so quick in the end is also surprising because because Gershkovich had already been in custody for a year.
Why the rush? And now it would be a Prisoner exchange possible? An overview.
What exactly is the Gershkovich case about?
Evan Gershkovich works as a reporter for the renowned American business newspaper “Wall Street Journal”. He mainly reported on Russiadescribed what is happening in the country while Ukraine is under attack – and how the Russian people view this war. The Russian state views Gershkovich as a spy. On March 29, 2023, the FSB secret service arrested the reporter. According to the indictment, he tried to obtain secret information about a Russian arms factory for the CIA. The US government dismissed the allegations as “baseless.”
What does the Russian regime plan to do with Gershkovich now?
This is not entirely certain. However, the possibility of a prisoner exchange is very realistic – also because the judicial system in Russia is largely controlled by the state. Observers assume that Russia and the… USA secretly negotiate the exchange of Gershkovich for another prisoner. The Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said: “The intelligence services of both countries are in contact to see if anyone can be exchanged for another, following an agreement between Presidents Putin and Biden in June 2021. There are such contacts.
Reporter Evan Gershkovich in a glass cage at the Yekaterinburg courthouse.
© DPA Images | Not credited
Why is the Tiergarten killer being discussed during a prisoner exchange?
Because it is one of the most prominent cases – and the Kremlin has a strong interest in freeing the Russian convicted in Germany: the man whose real name is Wadim Krasikov is called, was convicted in 2021 of murdering a Georgian in revenge on behalf of Moscow in the Kleiner Tiergarten in Berlin-Moabit Chechen war is said to have killed Russian soldiers.
Susanne Schattenberg, head of the Eastern European Research Centre at the University of Bremen, says: “Behind this lies the crude Putinist logic that the US is his main opponent and all other governments are practically vassal states of the Americans. The question is whether Federal government gets involved in this. Even when Krasikov was exchanged for the now deceased Alexei Navalny, where there was speculation, the deal was very uncertain.”
Read too: This is how Russian spies murder in Germany
Some in Berlin They fear being subject to blackmail in the future: in case of doubt, Russia would only have to arrest a Western citizen – and killers hired by the Russian state would no longer have to answer for crimes on German soil.
How could a possible prisoner exchange work in practical terms?
First, Gershkovich would have to be contacted by Russian President Vladimir put on be forgiven and set free. However, this can happen very quickly. What is more important is how the further process is initiated: an exchange would have to be carefully prepared. Some observers, such as Susanne Schattenberg, assume that the first steps have already been taken.
In the beginning, discussions take place at the level of Secret services instead, then there may also be a official exchange at government level. Only when there is an official agreement can the deal be put into practice. It is possible that both Gershkovich and Krasikov would leave on a charter flight. Russia or Germany are transported by plane and taken to their respective countries of origin.
The Tiergarten killer who is in prison in Germany: According to the prosecution, his name is Wadim Krasikov (55).
© Police | police
Could there also be an exchange of rings?
Yes, there is speculation about that too. Because the American citizen Gershkovich should actually be against someone USA prisoners alive from Russia, which would be the normal form of a prisoner exchange. But since Russia’s interest in the Tiergarten killer Krasikov is so great, Germany is also part of the current discussion.
Capital Inside by Jörg Quoos, Editor-in-Chief of the FUNKE Central Editorial Team
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A few days ago it became known that 29-year-old German citizen Rico Krieger was sentenced to death in Belarus. Given that Belarus depends on what is decided in Moscow, it could become part of an organized exchange of rings: the US citizen Gershkovich returns to the US, the German warrior returns to Germany – and the Tiergarten killer Krasikov is allowed to travel back to Russia. Historical scholar Alexey Tikhomirov from Bielefeld University told our editorial team: “That is indeed a possibility. Perhaps the Belarusian dictator wants to endear himself to Putin and serve Krasikov to Russia on a silver platter. But of course we don’t know.”
Alexander Friedman of Saarland University, who studies Soviet history, adds: “The warrior has received the maximum sentence in Belarus and could be executed any day – which is disproportionately brutal, even by local standards; this is no coincidence, it was probably initiated by Putin. He wants to exert maximum pressure on Germany because he is obsessed with freeing Krasikov. It is a kind of point of honour for him.”