Lower Saxony & Bremen
Three murder suspects released from custody in Bremen
05/18/2022, 4:56 p.m
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Bremen (dpa / lni) – Three men suspected of murder in Bremen have been released from custody because they waited too long for their trial. The district court announced on Wednesday that the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court had lifted the arrest warrants. The three men are suspected of having killed a 46-year-old in Bremen Neustadt in April 2020.
The competent criminal division of the regional court justified the delay with the complicated familiarization with the case. Since the indictment was received at the end of 2021, new investigation results have been added. A spokesman for the district court said there were no conditions for the three suspects to be free.
The suspects are said to have brought the body to Lower Saxony and buried it. For the police, the search for the 46-year-old began as a missing person. It was only in September 2021 that there was evidence of a homicide. The accused were arrested in October and November. Despite searches, the body was not found.
When the pre-trial arrest warrants were lifted, the Higher Regional Court did not comment on the urgent suspicion of the trio, the statement said. The top judges only determined that the period of six months from arrest to the start of the trial had been exceeded. According to her assessment, the case had been ready for negotiation since February. In the deliberations on an extension of the arrest warrants, however, the Bremen public prosecutor’s office no longer saw any urgent suspicion.
The district court had scheduled the start of the trial for May 30th. Because it is no longer a matter of detention, the start could be delayed even further, said the court spokesman.
The higher regional court criticized that the regional court had not relieved the responsible criminal chamber enough. The Bremen Association of Judges saw the exceeding of the deadline as a sign of general grievances. “The staffing of the judiciary in the state of Bremen is completely inadequate. The criminal chambers of the Bremen Regional Court have been working at the limit for years,” said a statement.
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