From time to time, the presiding judge had the impression that he witnessed in a ” story time”, so vague seemed the testimony of a witness, who was “probably not an innocent man himself”, as the judge put it. Especially the last of the six charges, the main offence, clearly showed the seriousness of the problem for which a 20-year-old and a 19-year-old were brought before the Böblingen district court.The court considered it proven that the crimes committed by the refugees had taken place according to the indictment: It was about several jointly committed assaults, including serious offences, insults and threats. For this, the main offender was sentenced to one year of juvenile detention, the probation of which will be decided in six months, until then he will remain at large. The 20-year-old, who came to Germany from Iran as an unaccompanied refugee at the age of 16, is not allowed by law to drink alcohol during this time, he has to go to addiction counselling, complete a social training course and do 100 hours of social work.The second defendant was sentenced to a fine of 900 euros.The main crime took place last summer on the Böblingen airfield. The 20-year-old and his 19-year-old buddy had arranged to meet an acquaintance on the airfield to “sort something out”. What exactly it was about remained unclear in court, but hints suggested that it was about insulting the ex-girlfriend of the main defendant.According to unanimous testimonies, the get-together quickly became noisy and subsequently violent. Who hit and kicked whom, when and where, or put him in a headlock, is part of the story time which the presiding judge thought he witnessed.However, he was sure that the decisive witness had wanted to flee,” said the judge, which the two defendants tried to prevent three times. Among other things, an empty vodka bottle is said to have only just missed the witness, and a larger pebble had also been thrown. Since this crime, the 20-year-old has been imprisoned.The two defendants were already known to the police and had been convicted: There was a brawl in Stuttgart and further attacks in Böblingen; a total of five offences within four months, and always or often under the influence of alcohol.Nevertheless, the 20-year-old should be given a fair chance, the judge said, justifying the sentence under juvenile criminal law, which is possible for exactly twelve more days – adult criminal law applies irrevocably from the 21st birthday on. The statement of the employee of the juvenile court welfare service was a factor in this.At the age of twelve, the accused had been witness to the killing of his uncle, who was to be recruited by the Taliban. The parents sent the boy and his brother to Iran, where they made a living with odd jobs. In 2016, they came to Germany, also with the burden of sending money to the family. This task had been too much and had been a cause for the 20-year-old’s considerable alcohol consumption. However, he had already attended meetings at the addiction counselling centre while in custody. Thus, the presiding judge concluded the hearing with the words “we’ll try it” and released the 20-year-old.
Skip to content
Antisemitism, Antizionism, Jihadism and the Reunited Germany. News by Fred Alan Medforth