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Berlin beating suspects face manslaughter

Nearly five months after a 20-year-old man was brutally beaten to death in central Berlin, prosecutors have charged some of his attackers with manslaughter. But two have fled abroad.

Published: 7 March 2013 08:13 CET

Berlin beating suspects face manslaughter

Photo: DPA

The four suspects aged between 19 and 21 faced charges of grievous bodily harm, prosecution spokesman Martin Steltner said late on Wednesday. Two of them also faced manslaughter charges for kicking and beating the victim, identified as Jonny K., at the city’s Alexanderplatz square late one evening in October.

A police investigation determined there was no intent to kill the victim, but his death sparked a public discussion about youth violence.

Three of the four suspects have been held since last autumn while two others, Onur U. und Bilal K., fled to Turkey.

Authorities in Berlin have since contacted their Turkish counterparts to demand their extradition, which could be problematic if they only hold Turkish citizenship.

“We are continuing to do everything we can to ensure they are put before a court,” said Berlin’s Justice Minister Thomas Heilmann.

DAPD/The Local/mry

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German police swoop on gang of foreign dating scammers

The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on romance scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.

The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.

“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” police said.

The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.

In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.

Some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million), police said.

The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.

Law enforcement swooped on 19 properties, including both homes and asylum shelters, police said.

The Black Axe gang had “strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria” operating different territorial units, police said.

The group had a “significant influence” on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria.

Globally, the gang’s main areas of operation were “human-trafficking, fraud, money-laundering, prostitution and drug-trafficking”.

Black Axe operated under the cover of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as “camouflage” for the gang’s structures.

The action against Black Axe was the first of its kind in Germany, police said.

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