Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

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

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

SHOW COMMENTS