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German prosecution suspects Russian link to Berlin killing

According to the prosecutors, there are no facts indicating that the killing was committed by a criminal with no ties to a government

© Philipp Schulze/dpa via AP

BERLIN, December 4. /TASS/. Germany’s Federal Prosecution Office has launched an investigation into a Georgian national’s killing that took place in Berlin in early August, the office said in a statement on Wednesday.

"There is enough reason to believe that the killing of Tornike K. was ordered by either Russian state bodies or the authorities of the Chechen Republic, which is part of the Russian Federation," the statement reads.

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According to the prosecution, there are no facts indicating that the killing was committed by a criminal with no ties to a government.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier dismissed allegations about Russia’s involvement in the murder as groundless. "There are no serious suspicions, and there cannot be. What does it have to do with the Russian authorities? These allegations are completely groundless," he told reporters, commenting on German media reports claiming that the killer had ties to the Russian authorities.

A 40-year-old Georgian national was killed in the German capital on August 23. The Berlin prosecution said later that same day that a 49-year-old Russian suspect had been detained.

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