"Zoo Killer" and German Prisoner in Belarus Released in Prisoner Exchange
According to the Presidential Palace in Ankara, the Turkish intelligence agency MIT had organized the prisoner swap. Involved were prisoners from the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus.
Krasikow was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany at the end of 2021. He had, in the conviction of the Berlin Regional Court, shot a Georgian national of Chechen origin in the Tiergarten in the capital in August 2019 on behalf of the Russian state. The court considered it proven at the time that Krasikow had committed the murder on behalf of state Russian authorities.
The 30-year-old Rico Krieger was, according to the human rights organization Viasna, sentenced to death in Belarus on June 24 in a closed-door trial for offenses such as "terrorism" and "mercenary activities". The sentence was reportedly related to the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment - an association of Belarusian citizens who are fighting on the side of Ukraine against the Russian army. The regiment is classified as an "extremist group" in Belarus.
On Tuesday, it was reported from Minsk that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had pardoned the German "in consideration of all circumstances". Previously, Krieger had asked for his pardon in footage shown on Belarusian state television. He hopes that the president will forgive him and grant him a pardon, the Russian news agency TASS quoted the 30-year-old.
The MIT-led prisoner swap included the release of individuals from countries like Germany, and it's worth noting that a German national, Rico Krieger, was previously sentenced to death in Belarus. The exchange of prisoners also involved Krasikow, a Russian national who was serving a life sentence in Germany for a murder perceived to be on behalf of Russian state authorities.
