A Berlin court convicts Putin critic
In Berlin, a Russian man places a Molotov cocktail in the basement of a house inhabited by employees of a Russian news agency. However, it fails to ignite. A Russian living in Germany is now sentenced to several years in prison.
More than two years after an attempted arson attack on a Russian news agency in Berlin, a Russian man was sentenced to a total of five years and four months in prison. The Berlin Regional Court found the 56-year-old man guilty of attempted murder and attempted arson with fatal consequences, among other things. According to the court, the man placed a Molotov cocktail in the cellar shaft of a multi-family house in Berlin-Steglitz, inhabited by employees of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, in the spring of 2022.
His intention was to set "a burning torch." According to the court, the man did not intend to kill. For his goal, he was willing to accept potential lethal consequences. The unconventional explosive and incendiary device failed to ignite for unknown reasons. It was discovered and disarmed by specialists from the Berlin Criminal Police Department several days later in the cellar.
The man, arrested in mid-December 2022, denied the allegations and claimed to be a victim of a plot. The man, who had lived in Germany for decades, made headlines in Berlin with protest actions against the Russian military campaign in Ukraine. In the eleven-month trial, he stated that he wanted to combat Russian President Vladimir Putin "only with legal means." In addition to the attempted arson, the 56-year-old was charged with computer fraud, property damage, and energy theft.
The General Prosecutor's Office demanded a sentence of five and a half years in prison. The defense requested acquittal on the main charge. They did not make a specific request regarding the further accusations. The judgment is not yet final.
- Despite living in Germany for decades and frequently engaging in protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin's military actions in Ukraine, the Russian man accused of the attempted arson in Berlin claimed to only want to combat Putin through legal means.
- The attempt to set fire to a multi-family house inhabited by employees of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti in Berlin, using a Molotov cocktail, was initiated by a Russian man living in Germany, who was subsequently sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
- The General Prosecutor's Office in Berlin demanded a sentence of five and a half years for the Russian man convicted of attempted murder, arson, computer fraud, property damage, and energy theft, while his defense requested acquittal on the main charge, opting not to make a specific plea for the remaining accusations.
