Russian accused of Chechen assassination plot goes on trial in Germany

FILE PHOTO: Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov (front) walks before a ceremony inaugurating Vladimir Putin as President of Russia at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2018. Sputnik/Sergei Savostyanov/Pool via REUTERS

MUNICH (Reuters) - A Russian citizen went on trial in Munich on Wednesday on charges of agreeing to carry out the contract killing of a Chechen dissident on behalf of people linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, strongman ruler of Russia's autonomous region of Chechnya.

Prosecutors believed the thwarted killing was meant to frighten into silence the 27-year-old intended victim's elder brother, another activist for Chechen independence who lives in exile in Stockholm.