In April last year, three parked cars belonging to the Bielefeld Public Order Office were set on fire at night. The police set up the investigative commission “Phoenix”. The officials suspected left-wing autonomists who had previously clashed with law enforcement officers during corona checks of arson.
One week after the fire, the apartments of two suspicious Bielefeld residents (19, 20) were searched and cell phones were seized. When evaluating the connection data, it was found that both suspects had received a call from a 17-year-old from Bielefeld on the night of the crime. In addition, according to the criminal investigation department, a chat process should suggest that the suspects met the 17-year-old during the night. “He is therefore considered another accomplice,” says the investigation file.
Since the month-long investigation did not reveal anything incriminating against the 17-year-old, the police decided to set a trap for him. On November 24th, the press office at Police Headquarters issued a notice that the investigation had been expanded to include a third man. He had already spent a night in police custody on September 21, after participating in an unauthorized demonstration. The latter had nothing to do with the arson attack. But with this sentence the police wanted to convey to the man that he was identified. She hoped he would panic and possibly call the other two suspects and say something incriminating. The Bielefeld district court had already approved tapping of the phones for all three men.
The authorities do not want to comment on whether the now 18-year-old fell into the trap approved by the Bielefeld district court. The Bielefeld police only said on Wednesday that the investigation was still ongoing.
In principle, the police may use tricks to convict criminals. However, the criminal procedure code prohibits conscious deception through lies (“We found your DNA at the crime scene!”).
The Bielefeld law firm Nickel & Kuhlmann represents the three accused and criticizes the police’s actions. Lawyer Sebastian Nickel: “With the press release, the police wanted to make it clear to the client that he was being accused of the act – but without officially declaring him the accused, because then he would have had to be instructed and he might have remained silent.” tries to let a suspect, who was underage at the time of the crime, run into the knife.
The detention of the man on September 21st on the sidelines of a demonstration, mentioned by the police, was illegal. The Bielefeld Regional Court has now decided that.
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