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CRIME

Swift justice promised as Tugce buried

As hundreds gathered for the funeral of Tugce Albayrak, the student fatally beaten after intervening in a fight, prosecutors said they would act quickly against suspects.

Swift justice promised as Tugce buried
Pallbearers carry Tugce's coffin. Photo: DPA

The mosque of the local Turkish-Islamic cultural association (Ditib) in Wächtersbach, Hesse, played host to the funeral service for the 23-year-old student before her burial in a neigbouring town.

Wreaths and other floral tributes were left on large tables in front of the mosque with messages like "You're always in our hearts" or "It could have been my daughter".

“We're all very sad. This is a very emotional situation for us”, local Ditib chairman Hakan Akbulut said.

Hesse minister-president Volker Bouffier and Turkish Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu attended the prayers for the good samaritan.

Meanwhile, state prosecutors in Offenbach, where Tugce was studying and the fatal attack took place, said that they would be bringing charges “quickly”.

“In criminal cases, particularly with young people, charges should be brought and the main trial begin within six months”, a spokesman said.

He added that the results of an autopsy were expected in January and that investigators were currently trying to improve the quality of a CCTV recording of the crime.

An 18-year-old man is in custody for the attack on Tugce on 15 November which led to her death two weeks later, although he is unlikely to be charged with murder.

Investigators don't yet know whether his punch or Tugce's impact on the ground caused the fatal injury to her temple.

Tugce's death, which happened after she was beaten for stepping into an altercation between several men and two women, has made her into a folk hero.

She has become the face of an online campaign for more people to have the courage of their convictions in everyday life.

And a petition has been started for Tugce to be awarded the Order of Merit for her actions.

SEE ALSO: Two girls saved by Tugce A. come forward

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CRIME

German police swoop on gang of foreign dating scammers

German police said Wednesday they had arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.

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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