About one in five of those arrested is a minor

Police arrested 145 people on New Year’s Eve in connection with riots in Berlin. According to the police, one in five of them was a minor. More than 300 cases for criminal and administrative offenses have been initiated.

Many of those provisionally arrested after the New Year’s riots in Berlin are still minors. The Berlin police confirmed this to rbb on Wednesday. According to information, 145 people were arrested, 27 of whom were under the age of 18.

Another 67 suspects are between 18 and 25 years old, another 21 between 26 and 30 years old. The suspects are five women and 139 men: it was not possible to provide information on a single person, a spokesman said. In the meantime the defendants have been released.

A total of 355 proceedings for criminal and administrative offenses were initiated. In 89 cases, investigations were conducted into violations of the gun law and 47 into dangerous bodily harm. There are also 41 criminal charges related to the use of pyrotechnics.

On rbb24’s evening show, police chief Barbara Slowik said on Wednesday that police were investigating at full speed. The video and image material will be evaluated in order to identify the authors as quickly as possible. She argued in favor of swift condemnation of the perpetrators afterwards. In addition, there must also be follow-up measures such as a ban on weapons if necessary.

During the rbb evening show, the mayor of the Berlin-Neukölln district, Martin Hikel (SPD), spoke out in favor of punishing the young rioters faster.

He said that it is extremely important to clarify the state’s ability to act against offenders in this way: this was the purpose of the so-called “Neukölln model”. This was developed in 2007 so that young people can be convicted of crimes as quickly as possible – and thus quickly feel the legal consequences of their crimes. The police, the prosecutor’s office, the juvenile court judges and the youth welfare office work closely together.

Hikel stated that the “Neukölln model” was used more often in the past. However, the judiciary and the administration are heavily overstaffed, otherwise the procedures would not take so long.

The politician said the administration needed to be strengthened to be consistent and swift, but was underfunded in many places. Hikel explained that consistent action must be taken against those who have consistently rejected the state. If that doesn’t happen now, the same debate will happen again in 20 years.

On air: rbb24 Inforadio, 4 January 2023, 2.40 pm

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