German government on prisoners exchange with Russia: “Decision to extradite a convicted hitman was not easy”

The German government’s decision to extradite a convicted hitman to Russia was not an easy one.

On Thursday evening, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met a plane with prisoners released from Russia at the airport, defending the decision to exchange convicted murderer Vadim Krasikov. Spiegel reported on the meeting at Cologne-Bonn airport.

A private plane with 13 released prisoners landed late Thursday night. The German chancellor interrupted his summer vacation to meet them.

Scholz noted that many of the prisoners had feared for their health and lives, so it was important that “we made this protection possible for them here.”

Scholz commented on the exchange of Krasikov, who received a life sentence for the murder of Chechen commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, stating that the decision was not straightforward.

“It was not easy for anyone to decide to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after several years in prison,” Scholz said.

The coalition jointly made the difficult decision regarding Krasikov after careful discussion and deliberation. Scholz informed opposition leader Friedrich Merz, head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary faction, at an early stage, and he agreed with the decision.

After meeting with the released prisoners, Scholz called the exchange correct: “And if you had any doubts, you will lose them after talking to those who are now free.”

Michael Roth, who serves as a spokesman for the Social Democrats’ foreign policy direction, expressed that it is sometimes necessary to compromise for the betterment of humanity. “Sometimes for reasons of humanity you have to do a deal with the devil,” he wrote on X.

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann acknowledged the need to make difficult compromises to ensure the freedom of the prisoners. He stated that Krasikov received deportation instead of a pardon. “As the Minister of Justice, I am responsible for one particularly bitter concession,” Bushmann said.

The unprecedented operation resulted in the exchange of 24 prisoners. In exchange for releasing political prisoners and Kremlin critics, Germany, the United States, and partner countries released a convicted murderer and prisoners suspected of spying for Russia.

The German government said that the decision to extradite to Russia a man sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Georgian citizen Vadim Krasikov was not simple for Berlin. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit made this statement.

He pointed out that a German citizen who received a death sentence in Belarus was among the 15 illegally detained individuals released today from Russia.

Only Russian citizens with intelligence backgrounds detained in Europe were deported and transferred to Russia, making the release possible. Among them was Vadim Krasikov, who received a life sentence in Germany for the murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin.

“The German government did not take this decision lightly. The freedom, physical well-being, and—in some cases—the lives of innocent people imprisoned in Russia, as well as those unjustly imprisoned for political reasons, offset the state’s interest in enforcing the prison sentence of a convicted criminal,” Hebestreit explained.

The spokesperson also cited the state’s commitment to protect German citizens and solidarity with the United States as motivations for the move.

He said, “Our thoughts are with all those still imprisoned in Russia today for expressing their opinions and telling the truth about Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The German government also called on the leadership of Russia and Belarus to release all other unjustly imprisoned people for political reasons.

On August 1, Turkey officially announced the exchange of 26 prisoners held in prisons in seven different countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus.

The German prosecutor’s office was disappointed by the release of an FSB officer, the murderer of Vadim Krasikov, in Germany as part of the exchange.