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CRIME

Child murder suspect arrested, as one more body found

Police on Thursday confirmed they had arrested the young man who is believed to be responsible for the murder of a nine-year-old boy on Monday. The suspect led investigators to a further dead body in an apartment.

Published: 9 March 2017 21:52 CET
Updated: 9 March 2017 23:29 CET
Child murder suspect arrested, as one more body found
A memorial set up for the victim. Photo: DPA.

Police confirmed late on Thursday that the person they arrested in Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia is the main suspect, 19-year-old Marcel H.

Authorities also confirmed that they had found a dead body in an apartment, correcting an earlier press release which stated that two bodies had been found.

On Monday the nine-year-old boy, Jaden, was found dead with stabbing wounds in Marcel H.'s basement in Herne, but the 19-year-old had apparently fled. According to the lawyer for Jaden's family, their neighbour Marcel H. had lured the boy over under the pretext of helping him hold a ladder.

Photos of Marcel H. surfaced online, depicting him with bloody hands next to a body.

The boy's apparent murder prompted a nationwide search, involving helicopters and sniffer dogs. Police received more than 1,400 tips during the course of the search. 

Police said on Thursday that a man went to a snack stand and said: “I am the one they're looking for, please call the police”.

The man also told police about an apartment fire in the town. When officers arrived at the location, they found a further dead body. Police are still interrogating the man.

“[The victim's] family is infinitely relieved and happy that the suspected murderer of little Jaden could be caught alive, and can be given his just punishment,” the family's lawyer told Bild.

POLITICS

Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

German officials said on Thursday they had raided properties as part of a bribery probe into an MP, who media say is a far-right AfD lawmaker accused of spreading Russian propaganda.

Published: 16 May 2024 17:19 CEST
Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

The investigation targets Petr Bystron, the number-two candidate for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in next month’s European Parliament elections, Der Spiegel news outlet reported.

Police, and prosecutors in Munich, confirmed on Thursday they were conducting “a preliminary investigation against a member of the German Bundestag on the initial suspicion of bribery of elected officials and money laundering”, without giving a name.

Properties in Berlin, the southern state of Bavaria and the Spanish island of Mallorca were searched and evidence seized, they said in a statement.

About 70 police officers and 11 prosecutors were involved in the searches.

Last month, Bystron denied media reports that he was paid to spread pro-Russian views on a Moscow-financed news website, just one of several scandals that the extreme-right anti-immigration AfD is battling.

READ ALSO: How spying scandal has rocked troubled German far-right party

Bystron’s offices in the German parliament, the Bundestag, were searched after lawmakers voted to waive the immunity usually granted to MPs, his party said.

The allegations against Bystron surfaced in March when the Czech government revealed it had bust a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.

Did AfD politicians receive Russian money?

Czech daily Denik N said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their European Parliament election campaigns.

It singled out the AfD as being involved.

Denik N and Der Spiegel named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, as suspects in the case.

After the allegations emerged, Bystron said that he had “not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions”.

Krah has denied receiving money for being interviewed by the site.

On Wednesday, the European Union agreed to impose a broadcast ban on the Voice of Europe, diplomats said.

The AfD’s popularity surged last year, when it capitalised on discontent in Germany at rising immigration and a weak economy, but it has dropped back in the face of recent scandals.

As well as the Russian propaganda allegations, the party has faced a Chinese spying controversy and accusations that it discussed the idea of mass deportations with extremists, prompting a wave of protests across Germany.

READ ALSO: Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

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