exchanged for whelan. that deal didn t happen. fred pleitgen has more on this brutal spy. reporter: a brutal assassination in the heart of berlin, the killer gunned his victims down by orders from moscow. translator: the court called this state terrorism because judges concluded responsible for this murder. reporter: the strij, a georgian national that fought for the army in the chechen war in the 1990s. the court found cross convalescent shot him from behind and fired rounds from behind. krasikov has a real russian passport but with a fake identity and was sent to russia specifically for the assassination plot. last year the court sentenced him to prison without the chance for parole and wrote, quote, the judges ruled their conviction this was a state ordered
the government spokesman today. translator: that does not mean that we are confirming or denying it but just that we generally do not talk about such matters in public. fred pleitgen joins us. have the russians said anything about a possible krasikov swap for whelan? i was texting earlier today with vladimir putin s spokesman, and he told me that he s absolutely not going to comment on the matter. i asked him straightforward, are you guys still that interested in krasikov, or are you willing to move another direction? he said he believes all of these types of negotiations need to happen in absolute silence to give him a chance to actually succeed. however of course anderson, we have heard from vladimir putin that he does believe that exchanges are possible between the u.s. and russia in the future, just not clear whether or not krasikov is still part of russia s equation. is it clear why there was interest by russia at least at one point on this particular
conviction that this was a state ordered killing. and the fact that a fake persona was created shortly before the. crime but also, because there was a motive and a state event of behavior from russian agencies after the crime. moscow kind the verdict, absurd and politically motivated. but an angry german foreign minister quickly move to expel to russian diplomats. these are this government ordered murder, as the courts ruled is a severe breach of german law. and the sovereignty of the federal recover meant of gervais. with paul whelan languishing in a russian penal colony serving a 16 year sentence for what the u.s. says are trumped up espionage charges. and the russians allegedly demanding krasikov in exchange for the former. molina drummer source says that in august, the u.s. did inquire about krasikov, but it was never viewed as a serious request. and never discussed at the highest levels
prisoner? yeah, and the germans believe that it s possibly two reasons. on the one hand, the germans say this man is an absolutely cold blooded and quite effective assassin as well who works for russia s special services. and from that vantage point, they believe he s a big asset for the russians that the russians simply want back. some in germany believe the russians might be trying to sow discord between germany and the united states because of course if russia could get the u.s. to pressure germany to release krasikov, it is something that could drive a wedge between these strong allies. so far there s no indication that s happening. the germans, for their part, saying anything that has to do with krasikov is a non-starter. and the u.s., of course, says they simply can t fulfill the demands russia put out there. thank you. second execution in less than a week has been carried out in iran in connection with the nationwide uprising that s been going on for months. last week, a 2
a wedge between these very strong allies. so far, no indication that that s actually happening. the germans for their part are saying, anything that has to do with krasikov, is a nonstarter. and the u.s. of course, as they simply cannot fulfill the demands that russia put out there. fred played an, we appreciate. it second execution in less than a week has been carried out in iran. in connection with an uprising that s been going on for months. part of an intimidation campaign being waged with a hard line regime. last, week a 23-year-old protester was executed a revolutionary court found him guilty of waging war against god. there. term another 23-year-old demonstrated was put to death. also accused of the same. majidreza rahnavard, was convicted of stabbing security forces, activists say he s the victim of a sham trial. there s still more iranians of been sent incident awaiting execution. joining us now from london, some abdullah disease. welcome more can you tell us about the sec