German Minister of Justice on prisoner exchange: I was worried that Russia would not poison them before flight
German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann strongly advises Germans not to travel to Russia.
The politician said this in an interview with Stern magazine, Ukrinform reports.
"I strongly advise everyone not to travel to a country where no one is safe, unless it is absolutely necessary," Buschmann warned.
He reminded that almost 40 journalists have been killed and countless people have been arbitrarily detained during Vladimir Putin's rule.
At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Justice does not believe that the recent major exchange has increased the risk for Germans, as it has long been dangerous in Russia.
Commenting on the exchange itself, Buschmann admitted that he had doubts until the very end about whether the Russian side would comply with the agreement.
"We couldn't be sure even when the plane with the released prisoners landed in Cologne/Bonn," he said, explaining that the Russian FSB regularly uses poison to directly or indirectly destroy human life or health in the most insidious way.
"Personally, I was very concerned that Russia had poisoned them before the flight. But based on what we know at the moment, thank God, this is not the case," the politician said, noting that all the released prisoners had undergone a medical examination when they arrived in Germany.
Buschmann admitted that the decision to hand over Vadim Krasikov, a convicted murderer for life, to Russia was a very difficult and complicated compromise. At the same time, he disagreed that it set a precedent.
The minister rejected criticism that by releasing the murderer, Germany was allowing for similar situations in the future, and was making Berlin vulnerable to blackmail from Russia.
"In this particular situation, we believed that the benefits outweighed the strong counterarguments. This will not lead to the possibility of blackmail," the Justice Minister said.
As reported, last week was the largest exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. As part of it, Russia released 15 prisoners, including 4 with German passports; one German sentenced to death was extradited by Belarus. In return, Russia received 8 of its murderers, cybercriminals, spies and two of their children. Germany, as everyone agrees, "paid" the highest price by handing over a convicted murderer (as well as a GRU and FSB agent). Not everyone in the German government agreed with this decision, but in the end, it was Justice Minister Marco Buschmann who instructed the Federal Prosecutor General to release Krasikov.