A bitter aftertaste
Putin swapped celebrities for Tiergarten killers
US citizens Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who were sentenced to long prison terms in Russia for espionage, have been released. This was confirmed by US President Joe Biden on Thursday. For Amnesty International, however, the major prisoner exchange has a "bitter aftertaste".
"We have negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country," explained Biden in a written statement.
German sentenced to death also released
A total of four people will be returned to the USA, he explained: three American citizens and one person with an American green card. In addition to Gershkovich and Whelan, the other two people are Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, according to Biden. The German Rico K., who was pardoned following a death sentence in Belarus, was also released.
With regard to those released, Biden emphasized: "Some of these men and women have been unjustly detained for years. They have all endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today their suffering has come to an end."
Biden: "Important to have friends"
The Democrat thanked the other countries involved in the complex negotiations, including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. "This is an impressive example of why it is so important in this world to have friends you can trust and rely on," emphasized Biden.
Confirmed: Gershkovich and Whelan free
In mid-July, the Russian judiciary sentenced the 32-year-old reporter Gershkovich to 16 years in prison in a controversial trial for alleged espionage. The Russia correspondent for the US newspaper "Wall Street Journal" was arrested by the Russian secret service FSB at the end of 2023 while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in the Urals. He was accused of collecting secret information about Russia's arms complex for US agencies.
The 54-year-old former US soldier Whelan was also sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court in June 2020 for allegedly acting as an agent. Prior to that, he had been in prison for around one and a half years since 2018.
Historic prisoner exchange
The Turkish secret service MIT announced that a total of seven aircraft had been involved. According to the statement, prisoners were exchanged in the Turkish capital Ankara who were also held in prisons in Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus. According to the MIT intelligence service, it organized the deal itself. He spoke of a historic prisoner exchange.
Putin particularly interested in one prisoner
Putin, in turn, was particularly interested in the Russian imprisoned in Germany. The so-called Tiergarten murderer had killed a Georgian man in a park in Berlin who had sought protection in Germany. The Russian president publicly defended the murderer because, in Russia's view, he had eliminated an enemy of the state. Putin called the victim a "bandit", "murderer" and "bloodthirsty person".
A court in Berlin considered it proven in 2021 that the Russian, acting on behalf of the state, treacherously shot the Georgian in the park on August 23, 2019. The man had long been in Moscow's sights because he had been accused of leading a militia fighting against Russia for several years during the second Chechen war. According to Moscow, he was responsible for dozens of deaths among Russian security forces.
Amnesty fears carte blanche for Russians
The human rights organization Amnesty International has reacted with "relief" to the prisoner exchange, but sees a "bitter aftertaste". "A murderer and other criminals who were convicted in a fair trial are now being released in exchange for people who were merely exercising their right to freedom of expression," explained Christian Mihr, Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany on Thursday.
"The prisoner exchange is therefore also a step towards extending impunity." With the prisoner exchange, the Russian government could "feel encouraged to carry out further political arrests and human rights violations without having to fear any consequences", Mihr emphasized.
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