Freiburg (dpa / lsw) – A week after a riot in the Freiburg refugee facility, the local district court sentenced a 28-year-old to nine months imprisonment on probation. The man was armed with a bottle and injured another resident and later damaged a police car. The court decided on Monday in Freiburg in a so-called accelerated procedure.
The defendant received the sentence for dangerous bodily harm and property damage. Prosecutors had asked for a nine-month prison sentence without parole. The accused was a “first offender,” the court argued, and he also admitted to at least some of his actions and regretted them.
In the past week there have been several riots in the state initial reception facility (LEA), which is inhabited by around 750 people. Some people attacked each other with sticks, knives and other objects. According to the regional council, the residents of the accommodation come from around 30 countries.
It was the first case of this series of violence that was heard in court. There it became clear that the causes of this escalation have not yet been clarified. According to the authorities, the accused was the only one of the suspects to be arrested after the incidents. An accelerated arrest warrant can only be issued if the main hearing is expected within a week of the arrest.
According to the indictment, the 28-year-old hit his victim in the face with a beer bottle so hard on the Sunday before last that the bottle broke. A 26-year-old witness said he was hit repeatedly with a bottle. The accused, on the other hand, testified that although he had a bottle in his hand, he banged it against a door. The trigger for his revenge action with several participants was an attack in which he had been injured several hours earlier. In the case, recordings from a video camera of the accommodation were used as evidence.
When the accused was taken into police custody after the riots, he kicked and damaged the sliding door of a police car. There was damage of around 800 euros. The 28-year-old fully admitted this fact.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230130-99-414098/3
