Berlin (AFP)

German media and media are increasingly pointing their finger at Moscow in the investigation into the mysterious assassination in Berlin of a veteran Georgian of the war in Chechnya, a case likely to trigger a diplomatic crisis.

The German weekly Der Spiegel published on Saturday, and the investigation sites Bellingcat and The Insider have published a thorough investigation evoking the possible involvement of Russian services or the regime of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov in this execution.

And this despite the denials of the Kremlin who denied this week any involvement in the assassination.

On August 23, in broad daylight in a Berlin park, a 40-year-old Chechen minority Georgian, identified as Zelimkhan Khangochvili, was killed by three silent bullets, witnesses to a real "execution".

Mr. Khangochvili participated in the Chechen war in the second Chechen war against Russia, before moving to an anti-terrorist unit of the Georgian Ministry of the Interior, while maintaining links with the Islamist circles he was close to. .

Already targeted by several assassination attempts, he had emigrated in recent years to Germany.

- Disturbing element -

A suspect is immediately arrested. He had just thrown his bike into a river and a bag weighted with stones.

The investigators also found a wig. Earlier in Germany, the suspect was provided with a return air ticket to Moscow the next day, according to Spiegel, and investigators found a large amount of cash in his home.

According to the German weekly Bellingcat and Vadim Andreevich Sokolov, a 49-year-old Russian born in Siberia. He was charged with "murder" and detained in Berlin.

According to the same sources, he had entered Germany after a brief stop in France where he had applied for a visa.

In the register of Russian national passports, however, no one is registered under the name he has declined. And there is no registration in the Russian passport database or in the driving license register that matches the information provided.

Another disturbing element, say the three media, the suspect's passport number leads to a unit of the Ministry of Interior in Moscow that has already issued in the past documents for the GRU, military intelligence.

The GRU is cited in the investigation into the poisoning of Sergueï Skripal, a former Russian double agent, in south-west England in March 2018, an attack by London on Russia, which she denies. fiercely.

Spiegel, Bellincat and The Insider conclude that Russia's involvement is a "possible scenario".

- "Russian tracks" -

They also evoke the tracks of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, or even "Chechen Islamists", who "may have acted out of revenge in the context of rivalries linked to organized crime".

But for relatives of the victim, quoted in the German press, the Russian involvement is not in doubt. Interviewed by Spiegel, the ex-wife of the deceased, who still lives in Germany, ensures that this murder carries "Russian traces".

A source close to intelligence told Spiegel to be "100% sure" that Russia is involved in one way or another. Another security source mentions a "second Skripal case".

Asked by AFP, the German government only confirmed Saturday that the victim was "known to the German security authorities."

This caution annoys more and more German officials, including members of the conservative party of Angela Merkel.

"There are some indications that the author of the crime had links with the Russian services.If this proved true, the question arises as to who pulls the strings in Moscow," notes in Bild the deputy CDU Patrick Sensburg , specialist in security issues.

Green MPs demand that the government keep the Bundestag informed. A Chechen rally is scheduled for Wednesday in front of the Chancellery in Berlin.

© 2019 AFP