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Disabled man kept in Essen cellar for years

A mentally disabled German man has been kept in the cellar of a family home in Essen for years, according to witnesses in a trial that will decide whether the man becomes a ward of the state.

Published: 25 July 2008 15:03 CEST

Disabled man kept in Essen cellar for years

The house in Essen where the man was allegedly held captive. Photo: DPA

Witnesses said the 24-year-old lived as a prisoner in degrading conditions, including being forced to defecate in the backyard and wash himself in the rain, German daily Neue Ruhr/Neue Rhein Zeitung reported on Friday.

A preliminary investigation into the “horrifying” situation has been started, Essen senior public prosecutor Angelika Matthiesen said on Friday. She said criminal charges against the man’s mother are possible, adding that city social workers responsible for the man’s care may also face charges of neglect in the case.

The man was removed from his home and hospitalized after he was caught stealing an elderly woman’s handbag and aggressively harassing people in his neighborhood, the paper reported. Apparently, he had dug a tunnel out of the cellar to flee.

Witnesses said he had escaped several times before and was beaten each time he was returned to his family. The family of 10 lived together in a cramped old miner’s tenement building.

Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

The man, named only as Jian G., stands accused of sharing information about negotiations at European Parliament with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

On the website of the European Parliament, Jian Guo is listed as an accredited assistant to MEP Maximilian Krah, the far-right AfD party’s lead candidate in the forthcoming EU-wide elections.

He is a German national who has reportedly worked as an aide to Krah in Brussels since 2019.

The suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service”, prosecutors said.

“In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence service client.

“He also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.”

The suspect was arrested in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday and his homes were searched, they added.

The accused lives in both Dresden and Brussels, according to broadcasters ARD, RBB and SWR, who broke the news about the arrest.

The AfD said the allegations were “very disturbing”.

“As we have no further information on the case, we must wait for further investigations by federal prosecutors,” party spokesman Michael Pfalzgraf said in a statement.

The case is likely to fuel concern in the West about aggressive Chinese espionage.

It comes after Germany on Monday arrested three German nationals suspected of spying for China by providing access to secret maritime technology.

READ ALSO: Germany arrests three suspected of spying for China

China’s embassy in Berlin “firmly” rejected the allegations, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

According to German media, the two cases are not connected.

In Britain on Monday, two men were charged with handing over “articles, notes, documents or information” to China between 2021 and last year.

Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher.

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