Russian sentenced to prison in Germany for planning to murder Chechen dissident

BERLIN

A German court sentenced a Russian citizen to 10 years in prison Thursday for planning to kill a Chechen dissident.

Valid D. was found guilty of acquiring a weapon and planning to kill Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen refugee living in southeastern Germany.

Christoph Wiesner, the Munich court’s presiding judge, said the murder was planned “with the knowledge, approval and interest" of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Prosecutors alleged that Valid D. acquired a weapon and ammunition after receiving the order in 2020, and spied on Abdurakhmanov to get details about his home in the southwestern region of Bavaria.

The murder aimed at silencing Abdurakhmanov and his brother, Tumso, a prominent Chechen blogger living in Sweden, according to German authorities.