An explosive device is found in the basement of an apartment building. A Putin opponent comes under suspicion. The Russian, who has lived in Berlin for decades, speaks of an intrigue. Now there is a verdict.
More than two years after an attempted arson attack on a Russian news agency in Berlin, a Russian has been sentenced to a total of five years and four months in prison. The Berlin Regional Court found the 56-year-old guilty of attempted murder and attempted arson resulting in death, among other things.
The court is convinced that the man planted an incendiary device in the basement shaft of an apartment building in Berlin-Steglitz, which was inhabited by employees of a Russian news agency, among others, in the spring of 2022. The intention was to “set a burning beacon,” said presiding judge Thomas Groß.
Court: “political activism”
The court is convinced that the man did not intend to kill. However, he accepted possible fatal consequences to achieve his goal. “He wanted to show that friends of the Russian regime cannot feel safe here.” The man became a criminal in his political activism – “that must be punished under criminal law.”
On the night of April 24, 2022, the defendant placed an unconventional explosive and incendiary device (IED). It was only discovered days later in the basement shaft and defused by specialists from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office. “It didn’t work – fortunately,” said the judge. Fire experts later determined that the device could not work and was “objectively harmless.” However, the defendant did not assume this. This is shown by his online behavior the following day. He repeatedly entered the address of the house and “looked for something that would give him confirmation.”
Defendant denies allegations
The Russian, who was arrested in mid-December 2022, had denied the allegations and claimed to have been the victim of an intrigue. They wanted to “pin something on him,” he explained during the trial. The man, who has lived in Germany for decades, made a name for himself in Berlin with protests against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. During the eleven-month trial, he stated that he wanted to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin “only with legal means.”
The former businessman has increasingly turned his attention to the political situation in his homeland in recent years, the verdict continued. The beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine was a turning point in his life. On the internet he repeatedly spoke of “burning”. The man also reported on the house that was later affected on social media and declared that “war against all of us” was being waged from there. There is further evidence, such as a DNA trace found on a gauze band on the incendiary device. “We are convinced that there is no alternative perpetrator,” said Gross. It was an insidious act.
Conviction also for other crimes
In addition to the attempted arson attack, the 56-year-old was charged with other crimes – these “popped up” in the context of the investigation, it was said. The court therefore also convicted the 56-year-old of computer fraud, property damage and theft of electrical energy. He had fraudulently obtained Corona emergency aid amounting to 14,000 euros and tapped the power line in his home in Berlin, the presiding judge explained. The court ordered the confiscation of a total of 16,200 euros.
The Attorney General’s Office had demanded a total prison sentence of five and a half years. The defense attorneys demanded acquittal of the main charge. They did not make any specific request regarding the other charges. The verdict is not yet final.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
