Group rape in Freiburg

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Entrance to the “Hans-Bunte-Areal” disco in Freiburg with a crime scene in the forest, which has since been partially cleared

On October 13, 2018, several young men raped an 18-year-old woman in Freiburg im Breisgau . The act was referred to as " group rape " in the media and social networks . On July 23, 2020, 10 defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. One defendant was acquitted. The case caused outrage throughout Germany and internationally and led to discussions about immigration policy in Germany .

background

In Freiburg, several publicly perceived sexual crimes occurred in 2018 after the murder of Maria Ladenburger in 2016. The latter and this case are linked by the fact that the perpetrators or suspects are refugees who had previously committed criminal offenses. From 2001 to 2018, Freiburg had the highest crime rate in the south-west. At a press conference on November 2, 2018, the police announced that the number of sexual offenses in Freiburg had risen sharply the year before, despite an increased police presence. More than 50 percent of the suspects are of non-German origin. Overall, the number of criminal offenses in the state and in Freiburg is falling, while crime in public spaces is increasing (as of 2018).

Sequence of events

The act took place near the club "Hans-Bunte-Areal" in the Brühl district, which the later raped woman had visited with a friend. The 21-year-old Syrian Majd H., who came to Germany in 2014, was described as the “main defendant” in the court's press release. He is said to have raped the woman who was “obviously unable to resist” under the influence of alcohol and other drugs in the grove next to the discotheque. He is then said to have informed several friends who are said to have participated in the two and a half hours of the serial rape. Previous sources from the court case report that the woman's friend gave testimony to the fact that the two of them bought and consumed ecstasy tablets in the said techno discotheque . The raped woman reported to the police the next morning.

Suspects

Eight men - seven Syrians and one German - were arrested on suspicion within two weeks . The case became public on October 26, 2018. After analyzing traces of DNA , four other suspects - two Syrians, one Algerian and one German - were arrested.

The alleged main culprit and another suspect were identified by DNA traces. Eyewitnesses such as the club staff were able to describe other suspects. An eyewitness spoke of up to 15 suspects. Most of the suspects were arrested in refugee shelters in and around Freiburg. The alleged main culprit is considered an intensive offender . The police admitted that an arrest warrant had been in place for him since October 10th. For "tactical investigations" and organizational reasons and because his whereabouts were not clear, he was not to be arrested until a few days later. He was also investigated for other crimes, including possible further rape, drug possession and trafficking - he was also suspected of having been a major drug dealer - and assault.

In the course of the investigation, three suspects were released from pretrial detention because of insufficient suspicion, and a fourth because there was no risk of escape. They were later charged with failure to provide assistance .

Criminal proceedings

Paulussaal, where the process to maintain a better distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic was continued

In February 2019, the Freiburg public prosecutor brought charges against the main offender Majd H., 22, and a 23-year-old in the youth chamber of the regional court. They were accused of rape of the woman, illicit drug trafficking and failure to provide assistance. Majd H. was also accused of inciting rape, as well as two cases of dangerous and willful bodily harm, an attempted sexual assault and exhibitionistic acts. Both men had to answer for a second serious sexual offense, so the public prosecutor separated their proceedings from those against the other eight men.

At the end of May 2019, the youth chamber of the regional court announced the dates of the individual trial days. 47 witnesses and five experts were invited. On June 26, 2019, the trials began at the Freiburg Regional Court . There had never been a trial with eight defendants there. In addition to these, defense lawyers, interpreters and the public prosecutor's office have to find space in jury room IV, which was a major logistical challenge and led to renovations in the building.

On the third day of the trial, Christiane Steiert, the lawyer for the injured party and co-plaintiff, raised allegations against several defense lawyers who had reported to the public on the first day of the trial that the defendants had stated that the young woman had "died" that night in the woods at the Hans-Bunte-Club. demanded massively for sex ”. On the following day of the trial, two of the defendants also alleged that the sex was consensual. On the fifth day of the hearing, the woman's documented injuries were discussed, which, according to forensic medicine, matched the descriptions of the injured party. The woman testified in a closed session on July 24th. She was connected to the trial room by video from another room so as not to confront her with the accused. In essence, she upheld the prosecution's allegations.

On the eighth day of the trial, three witnesses were heard whose statements differed from one another. Also, none of the suspects could be clearly identified. In late September 2019, charges were dropped against three men who were released from custody shortly afterwards. After that, eight suspects were still in custody.

In November, the Freiburg Regional Court set eleven further trial days until March 27, 2020. This increased the number of trial days from 27 to 38. The prosecutor accused all of the defendants of failing to provide assistance: the young woman was said to have been in a helpless state on the night of the crime due to alcohol and other drugs.

At the beginning of the 26th day of the hearing on December 18, 2019, the presiding judge rejected the motion to merge the eight defendants. Several lawyers had previously provided this on behalf of their clients.

In mid-February 2020, the expert Torsten Passie supported the woman's statement. In March, two trial days were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Then in mid-May it was continued in the Paulussaal, keeping a distance.

On July 23, 2020, after 43 days of negotiations, the judgments in the proceedings were passed. Ten of the eleven accused were convicted. The court found rape for seven of the men accused, and (other) sexual assault in one (cf. Section 177 of the Criminal Code ). Two others were convicted of failure to provide assistance . Eight of the defendants received a prison sentence, two of them a youth sentence, two others a youth sentence on probation. The main perpetrator, Majd H., was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He lured the woman into the bushes near a disco and abused her. Later he reported to the other perpetrators and thus started the other rapes. His friend Alaa al M., who, according to the conviction of the court, had given the woman an ecstasy pill and possibly administered knockout drops and raped her second, received a prison sentence of four years and three months. The German Timo P. was sentenced to four years in prison. A defendant who escorted the woman home was acquitted of these events, but received a juvenile sentence for a narcotic offense unrelated to what happened here. Other defendants were convicted of failure to provide assistance .

The allegation by the perpetrators that the sexual acts were consensual was classified by the court as a protective claim . The 18-year-old woman suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems after a doctor's certificate . The judgments are not yet final. Eight of the men convicted have appealed. Those involved were able to apply for a revision within a week.

Reactions

The Lord Mayor of Freiburg, Martin Horn (independent), and the Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg , Thomas Strobl , condemned the act. At the same time, Horn warned against condemning refugees across the board and received death threats as a result. As a consequence, Strobl demanded that deportations to Syria should also be examined and that criminal asylum seekers should only be granted benefits in kind. FDP state parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke called for Strobl to resign because he had tried to cover up a mishap in the execution of the arrest warrant. The moderator Dunja Hayali called for faster deportations of offenders and advocated a change in the law to make this possible. The Lord Mayor of Tübingen , Boris Palmer , also called for asylum seekers who are willing to use violence to be accommodated in remote locations, which is made possible by the residence requirement enshrined in the law . In November 2018, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer demanded that criminals should be denied re-entry not only to Germany but also to the entire Schengen area for life after expulsion , and cited serial rape in Freiburg as an example.

On October 29, 2018, there were three demonstrations in Freiburg: one by the AfD / Junge Alternative and two counter-demonstrations, in which, according to estimates by the police, 300 to 500 AfD supporters faced a total of around 2,000 counter-demonstrators. SternTV dedicated a broadcast to the case on November 1; Wolfgang Bosbach (CDU) and Lamya Kaddor were guests here.

The act also received attention in the United States and Great Britain.

The public defender of the accused were, as in previous major processes massive anonymous threats.

In July 2019, Prime Minister Kretschmann's spokesman Arne Braun said that the government was examining, on the basis of a 2018 draft, whether it could create a legal basis for the introduction of night curfews in initial reception facilities. Further sanctions could be envisaged for violations of the house rules in these facilities as well as reductions in benefits, possibly also deportations. In juvenile criminal law, it says in the paper, “greater use should be made of the possibility of arrest, in particular warning shot arrest ”.

Before the verdict, Martin Horn said in retrospect in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “To instrumentalize this terrible crime in this way is disgusting. At the same time I am proud and grateful that Freiburg dealt with it very differently, despite all the emotionality, and that on this day [29. October 2018] there were ten times more counter-demonstrators who showed the flag against generalization and hatred. [...] The greatest resentment against the perpetrators came from the refugees themselves. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b taz.de - Indictment against 11 men on July 22, 2020
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Judgment in the proceedings on the charge of multiple rape of a young woman at the "Hans-Bunte-Club" in Freiburg on October 14, 2018. In: Press release. District Court Freiburg, July 24, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b c Carolin Buchheim, Joachim Röderer: Hans-Bunte-Fall: Several years imprisonment in the process of group rape in Freiburg. In: Badische Zeitung. July 23, 2020, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Ralf Deckert: Sex crimes have been increasing since May at schwarzwaelder-bote.de from June 15, 2018
  5. ^ Rüdiger Soldt: Rape in Freiburg: Another terrible crime .
  6. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Freiburg is no longer the most criminal city in the country. Badische Zeitung, March 30, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart Germany: Freiburg: Police President speaks of an increasing number of sexual offenses .
  8. ↑ Axel Habermehl & Frank Zimmermann: Crime continues to decline, but violence in public spaces is increasing. Badische Zeitung, March 22, 2019, accessed on May 17, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Hans-Bunte-Areal - home page. Retrieved August 4, 2020 .
  10. ↑ FreiGIS - The spatial data to information from the city of Freiburg i. Br. - presented by Mapbender. Retrieved August 4, 2020 .
  11. ^ In Freiburg: demonstrations due to gang rape announced . October 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Imprisonment after gang rape in Freiburg. In: becklink 2016990, beck-online. July 23, 2020, accessed on July 29, 2020 : “He lured the woman into the bushes near a disco in October 2018 and abused her. Later he reported to the other perpetrators that there was a girl and, according to the judge, got things going. "
  13. ^ Spiegel.de: Wiebke Ramm: "Alleged group rape in Freiburg" . 7th December 2019.
  14. ↑ Trial: Eleven men against a young woman. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. July 23, 2020, accessed August 3, 2020 .
  15. ↑ a b c Anna Kröning: Intensive offender is said to have raped another woman - police are looking for two men welt.de from November 2, 2018
  16. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Group rape in Freiburg: Police arrest the ninth suspect. Badische Zeitung, November 30, 2018, accessed on February 13, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Suspect jumps out of the district court window and flees - with several broken bones. Badische Zeitung, December 20, 2018, accessed on February 13, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Case at the Hans-Bunte-Areal: Police arrest eleventh suspect. Badische Zeitung, April 2, 2019, accessed on April 4, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Group rape in Freiburg: Police take twelfth suspect. Badische Zeitung, April 4, 2019, accessed on April 4, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b Boris Palmer wants to isolate violent asylum seekers zeit.de from October 28, 2018
  21. ↑ Freiburg: Main suspect monitored as an intensive offender .
  22. ^ Joachim Röderer: Public Prosecutor's Office brings first indictment in the case of the Freiburg group rape. Badische Zeitung, February 12, 2019, accessed on February 13, 2019 .
  23. ^ BZ editorial team: The proceedings against eleven defendants in the Hans Bunte case will begin at the end of June. Badische Zeitung, May 27, 2019, accessed on May 27, 2019 .
  24. ↑ “No chance to defend yourself.” Spiegel Online, June 26, 2019, accessed on the same day.
  25. ↑ Joachim Röderer: The large-scale trial of group rape in Freiburg is to begin in May. Badische Zeitung, March 27, 2019, accessed on March 28, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Simone Höhl: The group rape trial should take half a year. Badische Zeitung, April 11, 2019, accessed on April 26, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Joachim Röderer: The victim's lawyer sharply criticizes statements by defense lawyers. Badische Zeitung, July 8, 2019, accessed on July 12, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Trial of alleged gang rape: Two defendants speak of consensual sex. Badische Zeitung, July 10, 2019, accessed on July 12, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Joachim Röderer: According to forensic medicine, the 18-year-old had many injuries. Badische Zeitung, July 11, 2019, accessed on July 12, 2019 .
  30. ↑ Carolin Buchheim: Victim testifies in the process of alleged group rape in Freiburg. Badische Zeitung, July 24, 2019, accessed on July 30, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Witness statements in the Hans-Bunte trial differ from one another. Badische Zeitung, July 29, 2019, accessed on July 30, 2019 .
  32. ↑ dpa: In the Hans-Bunte case, two other defendants are free. Badische Zeitung, September 26, 2019, accessed on September 27, 2019 .
  33. ↑ BP: Three months extension. Sunday, November 17, 2019, accessed on November 18, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Joachim Röderer: Defendants in the Hans Bunte trial remain in various prisons. Badische Zeitung, December 18, 2019, accessed on December 19, 2019 .
  35. ↑ Carolin Buchheim: Reviewer: Victim in the Hans-Bunte case was overwhelmed by MDMA and the act. Badische Zeitung, February 14, 2020, accessed on February 15, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Joachim Röderer: The search for truth in the Hans-Bunte case continues in the Paulussaal. Badische Zeitung, May 13, 2020, accessed on June 20, 2020 .
  37. ↑ a b c group rape: defendants receive prison terms. In: schwarzwaelder-bote.de . July 23, 2020, accessed July 26, 2020 .
  38. ↑ Freiburg group rape: Eight convicts go into revision , SWR of August 6, 2020
  39. ↑ Prison sentences for ten out of eleven defendants for group rape. Tagesspiegel, July 23, 2020, accessed on July 23, 2020 .
  40. ↑ Joachim Röderer: How an act kept the country in suspense. Badische Zeitung, July 23, 2020, accessed on July 25, 2020 .
  41. ↑ a b n-tv news: Strobl: consider deportations to Syria .
  42. ↑ After rape in Freiburg, Dunja Hayali calls for the perpetrators to be deported more quickly . October 29, 2018.
  43. ↑ Candidate: Kramp-Karrenbauer with a hard line against criminal asylum seekers Berliner Zeitung of November 8th
  44. ^ AfD sympathizers and opponents take to the streets . 1st January 2019.
  45. ↑ BZ-Redaktion & Anika Maldacker: Freiburg police draws a good balance after demos: "There were no outbreaks of violence". Badische Zeitung, October 30, 2018, accessed on July 25, 2020 .
  46. ↑ Why there is so much political volatility in the Freiburg case . October 31, 2018.
  47. ↑ ABC News: International News: Latest Headlines, Video and Photographs from Around the World - People, Places, Crisis, Conflict, Culture, Change, Analysis and Trends .
  48. ↑ Syrian accused of raping girl 'already had a warrant for his arrest' . October 31, 2018.
  49. ↑ Ten men convicted over gang rape in Germany . BBC. July 23, 2020. Accessed August 3, 2020.
  50. ↑ Carolin Buchheim: Massive threats against public defenders in the Hans-Bunte case. Badische Zeitung, July 1, 2019, accessed on July 3, 2019 .
  51. ↑ Roland Muschel: Reaction to sexual offenses: Kretschmann for more hardship. Badische Zeitung, July 8, 2019, accessed on July 12, 2019 .
  52. ↑ Claudia Henzler: Judgment on Freiburg: Mayor Martin Horn in an interview. Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 23, 2020, accessed on July 25, 2020 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 1 ′ 51.39 ″  N , 7 ° 51 ′ 33.6 ″  E