Reacting to the German court’s ruling over the Russia-linked killing of Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said it “condemns and expresses its concern over the murder of the Georgian citizen,” calling on the world community to “properly assess the incident.”
The brief statement, albeit dated December 15 on the Ministry’s website, appeared in Georgian media only today. Civil.ge could not find an earlier publication of the statement in trusted Georgian media outlets.
The Foreign Ministry also reminded in its statement that the Georgian side had cooperated with the relevant German authorities over the case and claimed that “from the very beginning” it has publically responded to the murder case.
The Berlin Court ruled on December 15 that the killing of the Georgian citizen of Chechen/Kist descent in 2019 in the broad daylight in Berlin in August 2019, happened at the behest of Russian authorities.
After the ruling, the Foreign Ministry of Georgia, as well as the Government have been under the opposition’s fire over the lack of public response to the Russian-linked murder of the Georgian citizen.
Ex-MP, European Georgia’s Giorgi Kandelaki slammed the Ministry on December 16, noting: “that Georgia has so far said literally nothing on either his murder or the landmark judgment of the German court yesterday is louder than any words.”
Media cited Lelo party politician Grigol Gegelia as saying that the Ministry’s “complete silence” over the case was “probably the best proof of the shameful, capitulating policy [towards Russia] embodied in this government’s foreign course.”
The Interpressnews agency today cited the Foreign Ministry as backfiring against Gegelia over the criticism. The Ministry said the Lelo politician was not comprehensively informed over the work carried out by the Ministry, or its steps taken regarding various issues.
Read Also:
- Khangoshvili Murder Ruling: Berlin Expels 2 Russian Diplomats
- German Court Rules Russian Govt Ordered Khangoshvili Murder
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