Month: January 2024

Parents are facing up to seven years in jail if they don’t let their children change gender, under new plans put forward by the SNP.

Scotland is looking at implementing a ban on conversion therapy, which would criminalise any actions designed to “change or suppress” the gender identity of another individual, and any action that causes another individual physical harm or psychological distress.

The plans, published yesterday, would make it illegal for parents to prevent a child from “dressing in a way that reflects their sexual orientation or gender identity”.

Marion Calder, director at the campaign group For Women Scotland, claimed the plans are part of a “gender ideology cult”.

She said: “We have grave concerns that these plans will criminalise loving parents, who could face years in jail simply for refusing to sign up to the gender ideology cult.

“They will also hand activists and social workers unprecedented powers to meddle in family life, while having a chilling impact on therapists and counsellors.”

She warned that if the SNP “insists” on pushing this laws through, it could end up “going the same way” as the self-identification and named person laws – which were blocked by Westminster.

But defending the proposals last year, Blair Anderson, from the End Conversion Therapy Campaign, explained: “Where a conversation takes place where someone has the explicit intention, or the hope or the aim or the desire to change someone’s sexuality or gender which is not possible, which is extremely traumatising: that should be banned because banning that protects LGBTQ plus people from harm.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Conversion practices that try to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are harmful, discriminatory, and have no place in our society.

“We’re committed to introducing legislation that will ban these harmful practices as far as possible within devolved competence just as many jurisdictions across the world have already done, and UK Government intends to partially do.

“This will be done fully recognising and respecting the legal right to freedom of religion, expression and a private and family life, which are protected under existing laws.”

Last year, the SNP lost its fight against Westminster over the party’s controversial trans reforms.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that the UK Government acted lawfully when it blocked the gender reforms in Scotland, which the SNP attempted to introduce earlier this year.

The party attempted to challenge the Government’s decision to block a law introduced in Scotland earlier this year, which would have made it easier for trans people across the border to change their legal gender.

It would have sped up the process of acquiring a gender recognition certificate (GRC), which is seen as an integral part of trans inclusion.

The proposed reforms would remove the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, allowing people to apply for a GRC as long as they have been living as the gender they identify with for three months. This is a reduction from the current minimum of three years.

A total of 11 European countries have introduced similar reforms.

The plans would have allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to legally change their gender. But people under the age of 18 would have to be living as the gender they identify with for at least six months.

The Government blocked the legislation under Section 35 of the Scotland Act, which allows a UK secretary of state to stop a bill from getting royal assent if they have reasonable grounds to believe the law would have an adverse effect on legislation reserved to Westminster.

Westminster’s decision to block the bill from going for royal assent is the first time Section 35 has been used.

Scottish Trans said the current UK-wide requirements for applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate are overly laborious.

The organisation said: “The time, evidence, and money required, as well as the emotional toll of potentially having an application rejected, mean that many trans people do not apply – even those who have otherwise ‘completed’ every other aspect of their transition.”

It adds: “This is very frustrating for many trans men and women who find that this slow, bureaucratic process is preventing them from otherwise just getting on with their lives.

“Many trans people know they are trans a long time before they socially, medically, and legally transition, and do not make the choice to do so lightly.”

https://www.gbnews.com/politics/trans-news-parents-jail-gender-snp-reforms

Olaf Scholz is the most unpopular German Chancellor of the century.

He has with polls heavily favoring replacing him with Defense Minister Pistorius, and in the recent regional elections his liberal/Globalist coalition was xxxxx defeated by right-wing candidates.

But listening to Scholz talk, you would not imagine him to be the floundering leader whose political mandate is weaker by the day.

In a very German way, the Chancellor continues to chastise other European leaders over what he perceives as their shortcomings.

One inescapable topic for him is Ukraine, of course.

We remember how, a few weeks ago, his government, ON THE SAME DAY, announced heavy cuts to the budget, and a big increase – in fact a doubling – of the funding of Kiev’s regime.

Scholz now complained that the majority of countries in the European Union were not delivering sufficient weapons to Ukraine

As the American military assistance to Ukraine faces an uncertain future, Scholz censured allies and insisted that they increase their efforts.

He repeated his mantra that the German government would support Kiev for as long as necessary – not taking into consideration that his government itself may not last long.

Germany was initially criticized for not providing the expected leadership and military backing to Kiev but has since become one of the top providers of both weapons and financial aid.

Unpopular Chancellor Scholz Berates EU Leaders for Insufficient Ukraine Aid, as Germany Sees a Spike of 51% in Asylum Seekers via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/NXAm6gkbG3

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) January 9, 2024

The Eelapatheeswarar Alayam temple in London’s Wembley was allegedly attacked on 6th January when an “aggressive intruder” desecrated the idols of the temple. The Metropolitan Police has been called for the protecion of the temple.

#Police called to #London's Eelapatheeswarar Alayam #Hindu temple following an incident during which one of the temple's sacred idols were targeted by an aggressive #intruder@metpoliceuk @INSIGHTUK2 @reachind_uk @Brent_Council @mayorofbrent @MAsgharButthttps://t.co/vGbVtae7Cd

— iGlobal News (@iglobal_news) January 9, 2024

As per a report, a man entered the temple of Bhagwan Shiva while wearing his shoes, which is prohibited inside temples as a sign for respect for the deity. The man was told by the devotees and temple volunteers to not do so.

The man broke out in anger and threw one of the murtis (idols) out of he sanctum sanctorum and smashed a diya (oil lamp) which was lit in the sanctum sanctorum. The man was restrained.

Rajasingham Jayadevan, the Founder of the temple and the General Secretary of its Board of Trustees reportedly said, “One of the devotees and our volunteers managed to restrain him after he became extremely aggressive, and were successfully able to catch the murti which was thrown.”

Jayadevan said the accused was being very aggressive towards the people present at the temple and also towards the police, one of whom was also assaulted.

He said, “He was being very aggressive, not only towards the people present there but also towards the police after they arrived. I believe he assaulted one of the police officers too. We are very thankful and appreciative of the swift and effective response of the police. We really welcome their extra support after the truly terrifying incidence.”

Jayadevan said that the actions of the accused may be relaed to the Israel-Gaza conflict. “I feel like this individual’s actions may be in relation to India’s support towards Israel in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”

A statement by the police read, “It was reported that the 22-year-old man was causing a significant disturbance inside the temple. Officers attended and the man was detained. He was taken to hospital as a precaution due to his elevated heart rate and subsequently arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and taken into police custody.”

A netizen pointed out that the temple was built by Eelam Tamils who had fled Sri Lanka owing to decades-long civil war.

This is pretty messed up. This temple has nothing to do with India or Israel or Gaza. Was built by Eelam Tamils who fled Sri Lanka due to the Decades long Civil war there. To attack a place of peace, sanctuary, tradition & culture is extremely vile and evil. I pray to Lord Shiva… https://t.co/z1454pr7wv

— Satheesh Raj (@satheeshraj88) January 9, 2024

Jayadevan said that the community has lived peacefully and in harmony with the local mosque for the past 20 years and enjoy a relationship of mutual respect.

However, the incident has sparked concern within the local Hindu community.

https://www.opindia.com/2024/01/london-hindu-temple-desecrated-witness-suspects-indias-support-to-israelin-war-against-hamas-may-have-motivated-attacker/

An ethnic Albanian convicted in Britain of growing cannabis has successfully argued against his deportation back to Serbia where he lived until his teens because he has forgotten how to speak the language and such a move would breach his human rights.

Clirim Kukaj, 30, was arrested at a cannabis farm in Cambridgeshire back in May 2020 where police recovered 580 plants with a street value of nearly £500,000.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court the following month after pleading guilty to being involved in the production of cannabis.

Following his release, the Home Office sought to deport him back to Serbia where he lived until the age of 13 before arriving illegally in Britain in April 2007. His family claimed asylum but were refused; however, they were granted discretionary leave to remain until June 2010. He was eventually granted indefinite leave to remain in April 2014.

At an immigration hearing this week, Kukaj’s lawyers successfully argued that deportation back to Serbia would be a breach of his human rights as he no longer speaks the language. This is despite him living there for over a decade and the fact that he currently lives with his brother who is Serbian.

The Home Office unsuccessfully argued that even if he can no longer speak Serbian, the fact that Albanian is a language spoken in Serbia would assist with his integration.

https://rmx.news/crime/albanian-cannabis-farmer-wins-deportation-battle-from-britain-by-claiming-he-has-forgotten-the-native-language/

The United Kingdom’s broadcasting regulator has been hiring top staff from Big Tech firms as it prepares to begin policing the internet under the controversial Online Safety Act.

The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, has hired 350 new staff members, many of whom have been poached from the likes of Google, Meta, and Microsoft, and is planning on hiring another 100 as it assumes its new role as the enforcer of the Online Safety Act, which was passed into law in October.

Speaking to the globalist Financial Times newspaper, former Meta “misinformation” specialist turned director of online safety policy for Ofcom, Jessica Zucker said that in light of Big Tech layoffs over the past two years, there is an “overwhelming” interest in joining the British regulator among ousted Silicon Valley employees.

“Those still motivated by online safety and proportionality see Ofcom as the alternative,” Zucker said, adding: “You could do it for one company, or you can do it for an entire industry.”

And the links between big government and big tech seem to run both ways, the most infamous example being Britain’s former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg taking a top job with Meta after facing electoral defeat at home. Mr Clegg is now president of global affairs and communications with the Facebook owner.

Ofcom, which hitherto was chiefly tasked with policing content on television and radio in the UK, has been granted sweeping new powers by the parliament to monitor and fine the internet.

For larger companies, most notably social media services and search engines, Ofcom will be empowered to impose fines of up to £18 million ($22 million) or 10 per cent of global annual turnover depending upon which is higher.

The Online Safety Act in Britain does not go as far as recently instituted regulations in the European Union, which demands that social media companies police so-called hate speech and combat misinformation, and some of the more controversial elements of the bill were removed before being passed into law, most notably the ability to sanction companies over the vaguely worded “legal but harmful” content.

While Ofcom has claimed that it does not intend to police speech online, saying that it will not be “responsible for removing online content, and we won’t require companies to remove content, or particular accounts,” the civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has warned that Big Tech companies will “almost certainly censor lawful speech out of an abundance of caution” to avoid the financial penalties from the UK regulator.

Indeed, with Britain not only failing to have First Amendment-style protections for free speech but also having instituted broad hate speech codes on “stirring up hatred” or “malicious communication”, social media companies and websites may face accusations of breaching the law for content that is considered perfectly legal in the United States.

Advocacy Manager for Big Brother Watch Mark Johnson warned in October: “At a time when criminal law is being used to repress protesters, refugees and many other marginalised groups, so too will this regulatory system be used to censor them.

“It is quite possible that the Online Safety Bill will fail on its own merits to keep people safe online whilst still undermining our free expression and privacy in ways that we could not yet comprehend. If this becomes the reality, civil liberties campaigners will take no pleasure in saying that many of our warnings were simply not heeded.”

While the OSA is ostensibly intended to crack down on content deemed harmful to children and to prevent the dissemination of child sexual abuse or terrorism content online, there are still concerns about the scope of the law, including demands that companies which provide messaging services allow for their encryption to be broken for the government.

In response to the demands, firms that offer encrypted messaging such as Apple, WhatsApp and Signal have all said that they may be forced to shut down their services in the UK to protect the privacy of their users.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/01/10/global-big-tech-censorship-uk-media-regulator-hires-meta-google-staff-to-police-internet/

Ireland is set to take the UK to court in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The case, which Dublin must officially file by January 17, is expected to increase political pressure for the UK to leave the seven-decade old human rights convention, legal experts have told Brussels Signal.

Dublin argues that a recent UK amnesty given to British soldiers for their actions during the so-called ‘Troubles’, from the late 1960s to 1998, is incompatible with human rights law – and in particular the ECHR’s Article 2.

That articles states countries must carry out “effective” investigations into all loss of life. This means holding judicial inquests whenever soldiers or police take lives on home soil – inquests that will be stopped by the UK Troubles legacy bill, or Legacy Act, which became law in September.

“Ireland has a very strong case on the merits,” said Dublin barrister Diane Duggan. She asked however whether the UK would comply if it loses.

London could simply ignore the decision. Alternatively, political pressure could grow for the UK to leave the ECHR entirely, especially from the Right of the governing Conservative Party, she said.

That, in turn, poses a problem for the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 pact that ended most political violence in Northern Ireland and includes the “full incorporation in Northern Ireland law of the ECHR”.

Samantha Newbery, reader in international security at the University of Salford, told Brussels Signal that for the Strasbourg-based ECHR judges, the “key here will, I’m confident, be that the Legacy Act is, allegedly – though I believe it to be true – not compliant with Article 2”.

In practice, she said, this means ruling will turn on whether the UK can guarantee an “effective” investigation into Troubles-era deaths while still granting immunity to soldiers and security personnel.

From May, the Legacy Act replaces inquests and civil cases with a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which can also grant immunity from prosecution.

Westminster will need to show that is also an “effective” alternative.

“The five requirements for it to be ‘effective’ were set out in Finucane v The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland”, a 2017 High Court case, said Newbery.

So “the investigation must be capable of identifying those responsible, be independent, and prompt, and involve public scrutiny and the next of kin,” she added.

Irish Tánaiste, or Deputy Prime Minister, Micheál Martin argued the proposed body is “not an adequate substitute for police investigations, carried out independently, adequately, and with sufficient participation of next of kin”.

The Dublin case will be relatively unusual; there have only been 30 interstate court challenges in the ECHR’s 70-year history, compared with more than 1 million applications by individuals.

There also could be a bit of waiting involved; there is a current backlog of 76,000 cases, although interstate cases such as this take priority.

Ireland previously took the UK to the ECHR in 1971. After seven years, judges ruled that interrogation techniques used by the British Army constituted “inhuman and degrading treatment” but not “torture”.

Ireland appealed that ruling in 2014, saying new evidence had since come to light, but that was dismissed in 2018.

The Legacy Act sets out to stop repetitions of the 2021 Ballymurphy inquest, experts say.

In that case, a coroner said 10 people shot in West Belfast by members of the British Parachute Regiment in 1971 were innocent and their killings were “without justification”.

From 1971 until 2021, the official record was that the soldiers involved were returning fire on Republicans who had fired first, said Duggan.

“This is what is at stake in legacy issues – determining a rigorous truth recovery process – how to tell the truth about history at its most serious level,” she added.

The pending court case has already led to calls for the UK to leave the ECHR.

“The fact Ireland is suing the UK over protecting our own soldiers is yet another reason to quit the ECHR,” argued one commenter on X.

Others claimed if the UK ignored international law over the Legacy Act, it weakened its standing when commenting on topics such as the Ukraine war.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/01/irish-court-case-against-uk-could-push-westminster-to-leave-echr/

In preparation for the resumed Dutch coalition talks Tuesday, Geert Wilders on Monday made a key concession, withdrawing his party’s ban on “expressions of Islam” that would include a ban on mosques and the Quran. 

Leaders of the potential coalition parties—the VVD, NSC, and BBB—gathered on Tuesday alongside Wilders’ Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom, PVV) for three days of talks under the aegis of coalition scout Ronald Plasterk.

Exactly what is being discussed has not been announced, although assurances that the Dutch Constitution, which enshrines various liberties, including the freedom of religion, will be safeguarded—a reason cited by the PVV’s potential partners not to form a cabinet with it—will certainly be part of it. 

To assuage potential coalition partners’ concerns, Geert Wilders announced Monday that he is withdrawing his party’s proposed 2018 legislation that called for a ban on “expressions of Islam.”

That proposal, its original description said, was: 

necessary and essential to neutralize the Islamic danger threatening the Netherlands. It is the duty of the Dutch government to protect the rule of law, democracy, freedoms and security from a hostile ideology bent on political conquest, which historically and globally has proven to have only one goal: to Islamize the world and subjugate all peoples.

The Council of State, a watchdog that evaluates legislation, called on Wilders to scrap the proposal. “The Advisory Division advises the initiators to abandon the bill,” the council said in its recommendation, published in 2019. “It is not compatible with the core elements of the democratic constitutional state; elements that the initiators intend to protect.”

During a parliamentary debate last year following his party’s historic win, Wilders signaled he would tone down his party’s anti-Islamist stance.

“Sometimes I will have to withdraw proposals and I will do that,” Wilders said during the debate. “I will show the Netherlands, the legislature, Mr. Omtzigt’s party [the NSC]—anybody who wants to hear it—that we will adapt our rules to the constitution and bring our proposals in line with it.”

In the run-up to the elections, Wilders had made it known that, should he have the opportunity to participate in the next cabinet, he would be willing to make concessions.

While a core tenet of the PVV had remained unchanged since its founding in 2006 (i.e. limiting The Netherlands’ islamisation), at present there were “more important priorities” to consider.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/netherlands-wilders-wont-ban-mosques-as-concession-in-coalition-talks/

A girls basketball team from a Muslim high school in California may have canceled a game after the school’s board was made aware that the opposing team had a trans-identified male player.

On Thursday, January 4, Averroes High School was set to compete against San Francisco Waldorf in a girls varsity basketball event, but the event was abruptly canceled. While the school has not provided comment on the reason why the sudden forfeiture took place, the decision was reportedly the result of the institution being made aware that a male player was participating on the Waldorf girls’ team.

Averroes is an Islamic school in the Bay Area, and sources close to the matter speculate that the hesitancy to compete against Waldorf was due to religious objections regarding the Muslim girls risking physical contact with the male player.

While the name of the male student will not be released at the request of sources, Reduxx has reviewed past game footage featuring the boy on the Waldorf team. He is seen towering above his female counterparts, boasting an obvious height and limb length advantage. According to team rosters, the male student has also retained his “masculine” name.

Speaking to Reduxx, Julie Lane of Women Are Real, an independent, California-based women’s advocacy group, revealed that information on the Waldorf player was first brought to their attention by a concerned father in November of 2023. His daughter had played a game against Waldorf, and had been left “traumatized” by the experience. Following the tip, Lane scouted out a Waldorf event to see for herself.

“The boy had an obvious advantage,” she says. “[The girls] didn’t necessarily run their offense through him, probably because they didn’t want to be targeted. But he got most rebounds and was able to jump much higher than the girls.”

She continued by noting that the male player “was not particularly skilled,” but that he had a longer range of arm reach and could jump significantly higher.

“They were at a complete disadvantage,” Lane says. “I caught one scramble for the ball with another player and my heart stopped. She was more than a foot shorter than him and could have been seriously injured.”

According to the statistics tracked by MaxPreps, the Waldorf Wolverines Girls Varsity team has won all but one game it has participated in over the past year.

Determined to raise awareness of the Waldorf player, the team at Women Are Real looked into the school’s upcoming games. Learning about their scheduled appearance against Averroes, a religious school focused on Muslim youth, the group then contacted the school’s board to alert them to the presence of a male on the opposing team.

“I was hopeful and thought there was no way this board would let their female athletes participate with a boy,” Lane said, noting that she never received a response from Averroes.

On January 4, Lane and some members from the Women Are Real team arranged to attend the match between the Waldorf and Averroes teams. But upon arriving, Lane was unable to locate the girls’ event. Confused, Lane approached some parents for answers, and was directed to speak to a female Waldorf student who had been sitting on the bleachers watching the boys’ game.

“I approached her and asked if her team was playing and if she was on the girls team, and she said she was on the team and they were not playing. I asked what happened, and she said ‘oh the other team didn’t have enough players.’”

But Averroes has avoided providing a concrete, official answer about their motivation for abruptly canceling the match, and did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Jean Berns, another representative with Women Are Real, believes the confusion and silence surrounding the cancelation suggests Waldorf’s male player was the cause.

“As the school hasn’t made an official statement we can’t say for sure why the game was canceled. However, none of the multiple reasons we have heard from various sources make sense. We heard from the school director that there were not enough athletes to field a team, yet they played a game two days later with more than enough players. We heard from others that the coach was ill, yet he was able to coach the boys team the same evening of the cancelation. All this mystery and secrecy leads me to believe that the true reason for the cancelation most likely involves the male athlete,” she said, adding that she was “relieved” when she learned the game had been called off.

“On one hand, I feel strongly that no girl’s safety should ever be compromised and that no girl should be competing against a boy unawares. On the other hand, I’m saddened that the result is girls quietly self-selecting out of sports,” she continued.

“Will girls’ sport die a silent death here in California? Seeing that the boys game went on made me angry. Nothing has happened to them. What message are we sending these young girls?”

Speaking with Reduxx, Marshi Smith of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports speculates that the confusion surrounding Averroes’ forfeiture may be the result of concerns about potential penalization from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).

“The CIF falsely claims that boys who say their ‘gender identity’ is ‘female’ have legal entitlements to girls’ opportunities and access to girls’ teams, dorms, locker rooms, scholarships, titles and records,” she explains. “Families and schools like Averroes are wrongly told they’ll be in violation of federal law if they don’t force their daughters to compete against or with males. Tragically, feeling powerless, teams will quietly forfeit more and more.”

But Smith says CIF’s threats are “false and unethical,” and calls on schools and families to push back against gender ideology-based policies.

“Families must boldly oppose this injustice against women and girls now. There are millions of Americans ready to champion them.”

https://reduxx.info/muslim-girls-basketball-team-reportedly-canceled-game-after-being-made-aware-competing-team-included-a-transgender-player/

The former interior minister of The Gambia, dubbed the “torture commander” of exiled former dictator Yahya Jammeh, is on trial in Switzerland accused of crimes against humanity

Ousman Sonko fled to Switzerland after the fall of Jammeh’s regime in 2016 posing as an asylum seeker but was located in a refugee center and arrested the following year.

His trial began in the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona on Monday where Sonko is accused of multiple counts of murder, torture, and rape of military officials, politicians, journalists, and political opponents during his time in office in the West African nation.

Evidence of such crimes was reportedly submitted to federal authorities by Trial International, a non-governmental organization that seeks to bring those who commit crimes against humanity to justice. The evidence spans two decades under Jammeh’s reign from 2000 to 2016.

Sonko was reportedly in charge of the Gambian police, intelligence agencies, the prison service, and the notorious death squad known as the Junglers who hunted down Jammeh’s political opponents. However, his leading defense attorney Philippe Currat claims his influence over these departments has been exaggerated.

Just some of the accusations against him include the murder of a military official allegedly plotting a coup against Jammeh, and the subsequent repeated rape and torture of his victim’s widow.

Another count relates to the torture of a victim in March 2006 where Sonko ordered electrical shocks to be imposed on the man’s genitals.

The involvement of the disgraced Gambian politician in Jammeh’s oppressive regime was first considered by the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) in 2019 where it was found Sonko played a leading role in the massacre of 56 West African migrants by the Junglers.

“According to the TRRC, Ousman Sonko also allegedly planned, in collaboration with Yahya Jammeh, the execution of numerous detainees in 2012 and is personally responsible for multiple acts of sexual violence, including numerous rapes from the year 2000s,” Trial International wrote in a press release.

The first day of the trial was largely procedural with Sonko’s defense counsel submitting several arguments in relation to jurisdiction and contesting a number of historic counts on the indictment.

The trial is ongoing and is expected to last until Jan. 30.

https://rmx.news/crime/trial-of-gambian-dictators-torture-commander-who-fled-to-europe-as-an-asylum-seeker-begins-in-switzerland/

It was supposed to be a light-hearted visit to her aunt. But the train journey to Dorfen turned into a horror trip for a little girl from Landshut. As the eleven-year-old later told the police, she had already noticed the man sitting opposite her on the train at the station. According to the indictment, the Somali man stroked her bare knee twice. When she moved away, he followed her. Passengers came to her aid.

When he arrived at the railway station in Dorfen, the 29-year-old gave her and her aunt the finger. In his culture, “a real man” does not ask a woman for a long time, but grabs her, he later told a police officer, who described the accused as a witness as “out of control” and aggressive.

District court doctor Dr Hubert Näger spoke of a schizophrenic disorder. The Berggrub prison records state that the 29-year-old talked to his dead mother and sometimes picked and ate leaves from the trees while walking around the yard. According to Näger, however, the accused’s behaviour towards the girl and other people on July 7 was due to an alcohol addiction.

The accused reported that he had arrived in Germany in 2015 in order to lead a better life. “But that didn’t work out.” The 29-year-old denied the allegations. He had only grabbed the girl’s knee “comfortingly” because she seemed overstrained on the overcrowded train.

He also denied another disgusting accusation: the public prosecutor accused him of exposing himself to a woman and her two-year-old child on the platform and showing his penis. However, the 29-year-old explained that he was holding a bottle of vodka in one hand and a can of Red Bull in the other. How could he have dropped his trousers?

To make matters worse, the man had already been convicted once for sexual harassment and had now breached the conditions. However, the court had to drop the case on this point.

Defence lawyer Marcus Gottschalk explained that it was a case of one word against another. He himself admitted that his client had touched the girl. However, there was no evidence of sexual motivation. And in the other cases, he said, there were many witnesses “reporting at random”. He therefore demanded an acquittal. His client’s problem was the alcohol.

Judge Stefan Kolb, however, considered the girl to be credible, as did the witnesses. He ultimately sentenced the 29-year-old to a total prison sentence of nine months for sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, insulting behaviour and exhibitionist acts, which was two months less than the prosecution had requested. In his judgement, Kolb said to the defendant: “You are the problem, not the alcohol.”

Dorfen Amtsgericht Prozess Elfjährige im Zug sexuell belästigt Landshut (merkur.de)