A Russian man based in Germany was found guilty on Thursday of plotting to kill a Chechen dissident on the orders of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The defendant, identified as Valid D., was sentenced to 10 years in jail for “willingness to commit murder and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state,” a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in Munich said.
Prosecutors said Valid D. was commissioned to organize the killing by “a member of the security apparatus of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov” in the first half of 2020.
According to German media reports, the target was Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, the brother of exiled Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov, who lives in Sweden.
Prosecutors said the planned murder in Germany “was intended to silence not only him [Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov], but also his brother who lived in Sweden.”
Valid D. is accused of procuring a weapon, selecting a hitman to carry out the murder and arranging for him to be brought to Germany.
He also allegedly spied on the dissident’s brother and his home, as well as carried out shooting practice with the intended hitman.
Valid D. was arrested in 2021.
Chechnya strongman Kadyrov has ruled with an iron fist since 2007 and has become notorious for widespread human rights abuses.
Western countries and human rights watchdogs have condemned Kadyrov for allegedly overseeing a system of harassment, arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of those who criticize his leadership.