Putin Greets Russians Freed In Prisoner Exchange At Moscow Airport

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Bernama-dpa) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally met the Russians released in a major prisoner exchange at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, the German news agency (dpa) reported.

Putin hugged at least one of the men on the tarmac, where the presidential guard was standing guard, television pictures released by the Kremlin showed.

The Russian secret service chiefs Alexander Bortnikov from the domestic agency known as FSB, and Sergei Naryshkin, head of the foreign agency or SWR, as well as Defence Minister Andrei Belousov were part of the reception committee.

"You are at home, you are at home," Putin greeted the freed men and announced that they would be nominated for state honours.Tears of joy were visible on the faces of those released. 

One of the men released was a convicted murderer who killed a Chechen dissident in broad daylight in a park in central Berlin. He was released from German custody as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, the human rights organisation Amnesty International welcomed the prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday, but warned of the consequences of such deals.

"I am really very relieved that (Alekandra) Skochilenko, Oleg Orlov and the others will now be free. They have been through unbelievable things," said Christian Mihr, deputy secretary general of Amnesty International in Germany. 

In some cases, they were denied adequate medical care or contact with relatives while in custody.

Orlov is from the opposition organisation Memorial and Skochilenko is an anti-war activist and artist.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be to be using political prisoners as leverage, manipulating law and order to further his own interests, Mihr said. 

"The exchange therefore has a bitter aftertaste. A murderer and other criminals who were convicted in a fair trial are now going free in exchange for people who have only exercised their right to freedom of expression," Mihr continued.

"The Russian government could thus feel encouraged to carry out further political arrests and human rights violations without having to fear any consequences," he said.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev also expressed criticism of the large-scale prisoner exchange between Moscow and several Western countries on Thursday.

"Of course I would like these traitors to Russia to rot in a penitentiary or die in a prison," Medvedev wrote on Telegram about the release of Kremlin critics. 

"But it makes more sense to release our own people who have worked for the country, for the fatherland, for all of us," he added.  

Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said that the "traitors" will now adopt new names and "hide themselves under witness protection programmes". Thus hinting that Moscow could pursue the released Kremlin critics abroad.

The huge prisoner swap saw 26 people freed, including 16 Western citizens and Russian opposition figures.

Medvedev, who served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012, was once considered a moderate politician but has adopted increasingly extreme positions in recent years.

-- BERNAMA-dpa