Kremlin considers it illogical to link the murder of a Chechen in Austria with Kadyrov

09 July 2020


It is illogical to associate the murder of a Chechen native in Austria with the head of the Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.


"This has nothing to do with sound logic. The murdered Austrian citizen and Ramzan Kadyrov? If he criticized Ramzan Kadyrov and if he was a Chechen, should we immediately talk about Kadyrov? Agree, it is illogical, " Peskov said, responding to a request from a journalist to comment on attempts in the media to link the murder of a blogger who criticized the head of Chechnya with Kadyrov.


As Peskov added, "it is simply impossible to speak in this aspect." Speaking about the fact that Kadyrov himself spoke on this topic earlier, the Press Secretary of the Russian President noted that "he was probably also asked, and he also denies". "He probably can't figure out what's going on," he added.


According to Peskov, the Kremlin knows about the incident in Austria from media reports. "We don't have any more detailed information," he continued. - This still happened on the territory of Austria and the citizen who was killed, as we know, lived in Austria for a long time, a migrant. I don't know what his legal status is, whether he is a refugee or an Austrian citizen, we don't know."


Murder in Austria


As previously reported to TASS in the Austrian police, on Saturday in the city of Gerasdorf (lower Austria) near Vienna, a 43-year-old asylum seeker, who was a citizen of the Russian Federation, was shot dead. A 47-year-old Russian man was arrested on suspicion of murder. On Sunday, a second man was arrested on suspicion of involvement in this crime.


The Prosecutor's office in Korneuburg told TASS that the murdered Russian was a native of Chechnya, who in accordance with the identity protection program was named Martin Beck in Austria. Both detainees in this case are also from Chechnya. The Prosecutor's office is checking the version of a political motive as the reason for the murder, because the victim kept a blog where he expressed a political position.


The victim had the right to personal protection in Austria, but refused it. However, his apartment was under police surveillance. In this regard, the Lower Austria land office for the protection of the Constitution and the fight against terrorism (counterintelligence) was involved in the investigation of the crime. OE24 newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, claimed that the investigation considered this murder to be a contract.


The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, accused the special services working against Russia of the murder. According to him, the security services themselves generate and then eliminate bloggers to cause a political resonance against the Russian Federation.

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS