“Tiergarten murderer” transferred to another detention center due to security concerns

The "Tiergarten murderer" Vadim Krasikov has been transferred from a high-security wing of Berlin's Tegel prison to another federal state. WELT learned this from security circles. There is said to have been an abstract risk situation. This was confirmed by several sources familiar with the case. According to information from Spiegel TV, Krasikov is said to have been taken to the "special facility for detention pending deportation" in Eisenhüttenstadt.

Krasikov was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2021. The Berlin Court of Appeal saw it as proven that the former colonel of the Russian secret service FSB had shot a Chechen-born Georgian in August 2019 in Berlin's "Kleiner Tiergarten" park.

According to the court ruling, Krasikov committed the murder on behalf of Russian government agencies. The judge spoke of "state terrorism" in the verdict. The case made international headlines and led to upheavals in German-Russian relations.

Details on the reasons for the transfer of the zoo murderer from the prison (JVA) Tegel have not yet been released. A spokeswoman for the Federal Public Prosecutor General (GBA) responsible for the penal system in Karlsruhe said on request that the GBA generally does not comment on questions of the penal system.

According to consistent statements from legal circles and from those around the institution, however, the authorities were concerned about the safety of the prominent prisoner.

Krasikov had been transferred several times before. The Russian had already been brought to the facility in Tegel from the Moabit JVA in Berlin while he was in custody. A security analysis at the time concluded that Krasikov was in danger. In the meantime, the defendant was also housed in the Bielefeld prison for security reasons.

In the prison in Tegel, the convicted murderer was housed in a specially secured area. In the isolation ward, Krasikov was separated from other prisoners. From the environment of the institution it was said that the employees even brought him to shower one by one. According to the information, he did not come into contact with other prisoners while walking in the yard either.

According to Berlin security circles, the decision was nevertheless made to transfer the prison because there was still a “latent threat” in Berlin prisons. "Politically active" Chechens in particular could develop a thirst for revenge because Selimkhan Khangoshvili, who was murdered by Krasikov and came from Georgia, belonged to a Chechen minority.

After the transfer, rumors initially circulated around Tegel JVA that Krasikov might be deported to Russia or taken there as part of an exchange for prisoners from Western countries. However, several security authorities from the federal and state governments contradicted this.

Most recently, in July of this year, there were reports from several international media that Russia wanted to trade the zoo killer free. The United States had previously tried to free basketball player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia, and former US soldier Paul Whelan, who was also imprisoned in the country. According to information from WELT, there was actually an examination in Berlin as to whether this was legally possible. However, the lawyers clearly denied this.