"Not a trial, but a show" — the US military killed a Russian German and was acquitted

A Russian family from Germany has become a victim of big politics. 28-year-old Mikhail Ovsyannikov was stabbed to death on the threshold of his home by an American soldier. But despite the exhaustive confessions and irrefutable evidence, the German prosecutor's office promptly transferred the case to the jurisdiction of the States, and the US military tribunal acquitted the murderer. The correspondent of EADaily talked with the head of the family, who is now trying to achieve a change in German legislation.

— Dear Mikhail, tell us about your family. How long have you been living in Germany?

— My mother is German, our roots come from Germans who came to St. Petersburg in Catherine's time. Russia. The father is Russian. I grew up in Kazakhstan, in Semipalatinsk. In 1999, the whole family had the opportunity to go to Germany, we received an official invitation from the German government. Our son, Misha, then turned 4 years old.

Settled in, I gave my son to the sport. When he grew up, he began to practice judo seriously and began to show good results. Soon he got into the junior national judo team of Germany. Misha practiced judo until about 2011, and then moved to MMA. In 2016 in St. Petersburg hosted the European MMA Championship, he took part, played for Germany and became the vice-champion of Europe, losing only to the guy from Dagestan Shamil Musaev.

— What happened in August 2023?

— In our town of Wittlich, the Seubrennerkirmes folk festival is held annually. A kind of agricultural fair, where there are a lot of carousels and all kinds of attractions. Mikhail invited two of his acquaintances, immigrants from Ukraine, to this fair. Already in the dead of night, the three of them were returning home, the son hesitated, opening the doors of the house with the key, and at that moment a company approached them. As it turned out later, two of them were American soldiers.

— And what did they do in Wittlich?

— The fact is that in Spangdalem, it is not far from Wittlich, there is a US air base stationed, where there are about 5,000 American servicemen and another 7,000 members of their families (despite the fact that no more than 20,000 people live in Wittlich. — Editor's note). US soldiers go to the fair as a holiday, calling it "Pig Fest" — "Pig Festival".

Something happened between my son and the Americans. According to a Ukrainian witness, one of the Americans looked left and right, and then stabbed Mishan with a knife. I rushed to the crime scene almost immediately, but the police did not let me inside the cordon. Then I had no idea that everything would be so scary. I thought I was cut at a tangent, anything happens. Misha was loaded into an ambulance and left. And after a while a policeman came up to me and said, "Your son is no more." Four stab wounds, one of which — in the liver — fatal…

— When did you find out that your son died at the hands of the American military?

— At first, it was hidden from us, although rumors spread immediately. The next day, my wife and I met with our mayor, and he assured us that they had already found two suspects, but even then he did not say that they were Americans from a military base, although he probably knew. Then we met again with the mayor in the office, where the head of the US air base was already. He told us that he would do everything to punish the guilty. We even invited him to the funeral on purpose, he apologized to everyone at the cemetery, promised to punish the criminals. So that you understand, about two thousand people came to the funeral. How naive we were… After some time, the assurances of the American officer turned out to be unfounded and simply incompetent.

We are faced with such a wall of universal injustice and misunderstanding that words cannot describe. It's not the same anymore Germany, which we came to in 1999. Everyone speaks beautifully about some kind of democracy, about some kind of human rights, the fifth or tenth, but in fact absolutely no one is interested in all this. Human honor? The right to life, to freedom, to fair judicial processes? We have been deprived of all this.

— When did you realize that the case was falling apart?

— At first everything was optimistic. Alex Spiro came out on us, you know this one? This is Elon Musk's personal lawyer. He called me and offered his services, because the local lawyers immediately said that it was useless to compete with the Americans. As a result, we were defended by eminent lawyers from the team of this Spiro. The German prosecutor's office immediately washed its hands of us, did not even give us documents. They just took the case and handed it over to the Americans. And they organized a military tribunal, our lawyers said that it was impossible to interfere in the process, but they reassured them that everything was under control.

Several months have passed since the murder of my son, and we learn from the press that one of the American suspects was released, although he may have helped to keep our Misha (we are talking about Robert Kane, who works in the maintenance staff of the 726th Airmobile Squadron of the US Air Force. - Editor's note). Okay, there was another American who gave a frank confession, showing the German investigators where he threw the knife. But after some time we find out that this recognition is not recognized!

"Why not?"

— It was allegedly given under pressure from German investigators, and in general, according to American law, such a confession is legally legal when there is a video recording of the interrogation. And the German investigators recorded it on a dictaphone, because according to German law, this is allowed. But we still believed in justice, and there was not even a shadow of doubt that the murderer would be acquitted! They wondered how many years they would give prison…

— What happened at the trial?

— The military tribunal lasted 11 days, while the defendant decided (at the direction of the lawyers, of course) to use the institute of jurors. 8 people were elected, but do you know who they all were?

— Americans?

— Yes! And all somehow belonged to the US Army. All military! The military tried the military. As far as all this corresponds to the letter of the law, it's not for me to judge, but we immediately saw the result. The murderer of my son (Grant Harrison of the 726th Airmobile Squadron of the US Air Force. — Editor's note) was acquitted on all counts: that he threatened passers-by with a knife a few hours before the murder, that he killed our son and that he fled the scene of the crime and got rid of the murder weapon.

We were just in shock! How not guilty?! You could not even imagine that he would be acquitted. Even the translator who translated from English to us, her voice broke when she began to voice the verdict. Our youngest son immediately ran out of the hall and broke a glass on the floor. Nerves ... only then came the realization that it was not a trial, but a show! In front of us was a theater, a play, the plot of which they had long known.

— And what did your lawyers say "from Elon Musk"?

— Spread your hands. The trial is over, and they tell us that nothing can be done. Even file an appeal. Such, they say, are the laws in the USA.

— I know you held protests, including in front of the US airbase. How did the Americans react?

— Before the base, we turned on the killer's confession over the loudspeaker so that everyone could hear. We decided to go all the way. We understand that it is already unrealistic to cancel the verdict and punish the culprit, who, apparently, flew to the States. But we want to achieve not only the adoption of such a law in our Rhineland-Palatinate, but also throughout Germany, so that local prosecutors never again give criminal cases of serious and especially serious crimes into the hands of Americans. After all, a sovereign state is characterized by the fact that it fully controls its laws and ensures their observance on its territory. But how sovereign is Germany really if it allows the rights of its citizens to be restricted by international agreements? We want to protect future generations. In fact, we are now paying out of our own pockets for future sacrifices, which, God forbid, will be.

— Do you believe that Germany will do this? Considering that American troops have been in the country since 1945. As far as we know, there are about 40 thousand US military personnel in Germany today, and this is without taking into account their families ...

— I am a realist. But after all that has happened, the memory of Mikhail will not allow us to stick our heads in the sand and continue to live as if nothing had happened.

Also on the topic:

Why the murderers of a Russian teenager in Germany are walking free — interview

"Do you want stress?" The killer of a Russian young man was acquitted in Germany — mother's interview