The brother and family of Selimchan Changoschwili, murdered in Berlin six years ago, have been deported to Georgia, where they fear for their safety. The deportation took place early Thursday morning, as confirmed by authorities. Critics view it as a cynical signal to opponents of Russia.
Six years ago, Chechen-origin Georgian Selimchan Changoschwili was shot dead in Berlin by a Russian contract killer, in what is known as the Tiergarten murder. His brother Surab Changoschwili and family, including minors, have now been deported to Georgia. An anonymous source close to the family confirmed this to ZEIT; tagesschau.de and Deutsche Welle reported it earlier.
The deportation occurred early Thursday morning. According to Deutsche Welle, police forced open the door to the family's apartment in Brandenburg, confiscated phones, and took them to BER airport. There, they were flown to Tbilisi on a charter flight with 47 others. The Federal Interior Ministry confirmed this on Friday at a press conference but provided no further details.
Neither Selimchan nor Surab Changoschwili received asylum. In autumn 2024, the Potsdam Administrative Court rejected urgent applications against deportation without explanation. Since then, the family faced daily deportation threats; Surab spoke to ZEIT about it in April 2025.
In Georgia, the family fears persecution. In 2015, Selimchan survived an attack in Tbilisi, with perpetrators never caught. He fought against Russia in the second Chechen war and later became an informant for the Georgian government. Surab assisted by evacuating the wounded. Uninvolved family members have been targeted in the past, and Georgian police have brutally cracked down on the Chechen minority in recent years, while Russians enter visa-free.
Green Party politician Robin Wagener called the deportation 'cold and cynical' to tagesschau.de. It sends a fatal signal to Putin opponents that Germany cannot be relied upon. The black-red coalition aims to increase deportations. The killer, Vadim Krasikov, was released a year ago in a prisoner exchange.