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CRIME

Aachen jailbreak convicts imprisoned for life

The two men who escaped from an Aachen prison in 2009 sparking a desperate police manhunt have been sentenced to long prison terms. They will likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Aachen jailbreak convicts imprisoned for life
Photo: DPA

Michael Heckhoff, 52, was sentenced to ten years in prison by a court on Wednesday, while co-conspirator Peter Paul Michalski, 47, was given a jail term of ten years and six months.

The two had been charged with kidnapping, blackmail and hostage-taking.

The court also ruled that they be kept in preventive detention after having served their sentences, which means the two will probably die in custody.

The former prison guard who helped the two escape in Nov. 2009 from the maximum-security facility near the western German city of Aachen was given a sentence of four years and three months.

Prosecutors had asked that Heckhoff be given a 12-year sentence and Michalski 13 years. They had also demanded the former prison guard receive a sentence of seven years.

Germany held its collective breath for five days during which convicted murderer Michalski and Heckhoff, who was serving time for hostage-taking, led police on nationwide manhunt, during which they took hostages and broke into a villa. No one was injured during the chase.

The men confessed their crimes in front of the Aachen court although in a final statement said that poor conditions in the Aachen facility had driven them to escape. The two said the prison was merely a place where inmates were “stored” and the outlook for the future there was bleak.

DPA/The Local/kdj

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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