Latest news with #Asylbewerber
The National
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
German court jails Syrian doctor for crimes against humanity
A German court on Monday sentenced a Syrian doctor to life in prison for crimes against humanity after he tortured prisoners at military hospitals under former ruler Bashar Al Assad's regime. The crimes committed by Alaa Mousa, 40, during the Syrian civil war were "part of a brutal reaction by Assad's dictatorial, unjust regime", said Christoph Koller, the presiding judge at the higher regional court in Frankfurt. Mousa was accused of torturing patients at military hospitals in Damascus and Homs on 18 occasions between 2011 and 2012. In one instance, he was said to have burnt the genitals of a teenage boy and in another case, to have killed a detainee who resisted a beating with an injection. As well as crimes against humanity, the court found Mousa guilty of murder, torture and war crimes. The defendant denied the charges in the trial, which came to a close a few months after Mr Al Assad's overthrow in December 2024. Mousa arrived in Germany in 2015 on a visa for highly skilled workers at the same time as hundreds of thousands of Syrians were fleeing the civil war. He continued to practise medicine in Germany, working as an orthopaedic doctor until he was arrested in June 2020. A former employer told German media they knew nothing of his past in Syria's military hospitals, and that colleagues described him as "unremarkable". According to prosecutors, Mousa's patients – often political opponents detained by the government – were tortured and "not infrequently killed". In one case, he was accused of pouring flammable liquid on a prisoner's wounds before setting them on fire and kicking him in the face so hard that three of his teeth were lost. Other inmates were kicked and beaten, sometimes with medical tools, according to prosecutors. During the trial, the court heard testimony from colleagues and detainees, who said they recognised the accused, according to German weekly Der Spiegel. One former inmate said he had been forced to carry the bodies of patients who died after Mousa's lethal injections, Der Spiegel reported. Another witness said the military hospital where he was held in Damascus had been known as a "slaughterhouse". At the opening of the trial in 2022, Mousa told the court he had witnessed beatings, but denied striking patients. The accused said he was too afraid of the military police "in control" at the hospital to speak out. "I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't say anything, or it would have been me instead of the patient," he said. Germany has tried several supporters of Mr Al Assad's regime under the legal principle of "universal jurisdiction", which allows for serious crimes to be prosecuted even if they were committed in a different country. The first global trial over state-sponsored torture in Syria under the Assad government opened in 2020 in Koblenz, in western Germany. The accused in the trial, a former army colonel, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in jail in 2022.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German police arrest teenage neo-Nazis over alleged attacks on migrants
German police have staged early morning raids against an alleged far-right 'terrorist' cell on suspicion of attacks against asylum seekers and political enemies, arresting five teenage suspects, federal prosecutors have said. The operation on Wednesday targeting a neo-Nazi group calling itself 'Last Defence Wave' marked the latest high-profile action against groups Germany says are working to destabilise its democratic order. Four of those arrested – named only as Benjamin H, Ben-Maxim H, Lenny M and Jason R, in line with German privacy rules – are suspected of membership of a 'domestic terror organisation'. The fifth, Jerome M, is accused of supporting the group. Two of the suspects are accused of attempted murder and aggravated arson. All five are German citizens between the ages of 14 and 18. Prosecutors said in a statement they were also investigating three other people, aged 18 to 21, who are already in custody in connection with the case. The arrests took place in three states and were accompanied by searches at 13 properties in five regions. Authorities believe the Last Defence Wave group began in April 2024 at the latest. The justice minister, Stefanie Hubig, said what was 'particularly shocking is that all those arrested today are said to have been minors when the terrorist group was founded'. 'This is an alarm signal and it shows that rightwing extremist terrorism knows no age,' she said in a statement. Prosecutors said the group's members 'see themselves as the last line of defence of the 'German nation''. Their intent is 'to bring about the collapse of the democratic system in the Federal Republic of Germany through acts of violence, primarily against migrants and political opponents'. Two of the suspects allegedly set fire to a cultural centre in the eastern town Altdöbern in October, prosecutors said, adding that several people living at the property at the time were lucky to escape. Ben-Maxim H is believed to have written a speech delivered in a video by Lenny M before the arson attack, encouraging other group members to commit similar acts. The public broadcaster ARD said online chats linked to the group and including about 200 people glorified the Nazi regime and propagated large scale, politically motivated attacks. In January, another two suspects allegedly smashed a window at a home for asylum-seekers in Schmölln, eastern Germany and tried unsuccessfully to start a blaze by setting off fireworks inside, prosecutors said. They are believed to have sprayed the group's initials on a wall, swastikas and slogans such as 'foreigners out', 'Germany for the Germans' and 'Nazi territory' while flashing the straight-armed Hitler salute. The same month, three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on a shelter for asylum-seekers in the eastern town of Senftenberg and acquired explosive material from the Czech Republic. But the alleged plot was foiled because of the earlier arrests of two members, reportedly using the findings of an undercover television reporter. News magazine Der Spiegel said Last Defence Wave actively recruited new members using Instagram, TikTok, Telegram and WhatsApp, setting a minimum age of 15. Investigators found more than 70 chat groups across the country with what they say are links to the group. Der Spiegel quoted experts as saying the surge in youth interest in violent neo-Nazi groups recalled the notorious 'baseball-bat years' after national reunification in 1990 when a wave of racist, homophobic and anti-leftist attacks rocked Germany. In a separate case last week, authorities outlawed a cult-like far-right group called 'Kingdom of Germany' as a threat to the country's democratic order and arrested four of its alleged organisers including the ringleader Peter Fitzek, the self-proclaimed Peter I. The Federal Criminal Police Office said in an annual report released on Tuesday that the number of violent crimes with a rightwing motive in Germany was up more than 17% last year to 1,488. That was part of an overall 15% increase in violent politically motivated offences to 4,107.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
German police arrest teenage neo-Nazis for alleged attacks on migrants
German police have staged early morning raids against an alleged far-right 'terrorist' cell on suspicion of attacks against asylum seekers and political enemies, arresting five teenage suspects, federal prosecutors said. The operation on Wednesday targeting a neo-Nazi group calling itself 'Last Defence Wave' marked the latest high-profile action against groups Germany says are working to destabilise its democratic order. Four of those arrested – named only as Benjamin H, Ben-Maxim H, Lenny M and Jason R, in line with German privacy rules – are suspected of membership of a 'domestic terror organisation'. The fifth, Jerome M, is accused of supporting the group. Two of the suspects are accused of attempted murder and aggravated arson. All five are German citizens between the ages of 14 and 18. Prosecutors said in a statement they were also investigating three other people, aged 18 to 21, who are already in custody in connection with the case. The arrests took place in three states and were accompanied by searches at 13 properties in five regions. Authorities believe the Last Defence Wave group began in April 2024 at the latest. The justice minister, Stefanie Hubig, said what was 'particularly shocking is that all those arrested today are said to have been minors when the terrorist group was founded'. 'This is an alarm signal and it shows that rightwing extremist terrorism knows no age,' she said in a statement. Prosecutors said the group's members 'see themselves as the last line of defence of the 'German nation''. Their intent is 'to bring about the collapse of the democratic system in the Federal Republic of Germany through acts of violence, primarily against migrants and political opponents'. Two of the suspects allegedly set fire to a cultural centre in the eastern town Altdöbern in October, prosecutors said, adding that several people living at the property at the time were lucky to escape. Ben-Maxim H is believed to have written a speech delivered in a video by Lenny M before the arson attack, encouraging other group members to commit similar acts. The public broadcaster ARD said online chats linked to the group and including about 200 people glorified the Nazi regime and propagated large scale, politically motivated attacks. In January, another two suspects allegedly smashed a window at a home for asylum-seekers in Schmölln, eastern Germany and tried unsuccessfully to start a blaze by setting off fireworks inside, prosecutors said. They are believed to have sprayed the group's initials on a wall, swastikas and slogans such as 'foreigners out', 'Germany for the Germans' and 'Nazi territory' while flashing the straight-armed Hitler salute. The same month, three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on a shelter for asylum-seekers in the eastern town of Senftenberg and acquired explosive material from the Czech Republic. But the alleged plot was foiled because of the earlier arrests of two members, reportedly using the findings of an undercover television reporter. News magazine Der Spiegel said Last Defence Wave actively recruited new members using Instagram, TikTok, Telegram and WhatsApp, setting a minimum age of 15. Investigators found more than 70 chat groups across the country with what they say are links to the group. Der Spiegel quoted experts as saying the surge in youth interest in violent neo-Nazi groups recalled the notorious 'baseball-bat years' after national reunification in 1990 when a wave of racist, homophobic and anti-leftist attacks rocked Germany. In a separate case last week, authorities outlawed a cult-like far-right group called 'Kingdom of Germany' as a threat to the country's democratic order and arrested four of its alleged organisers including the ringleader Peter Fitzek, the self-proclaimed Peter I. The Federal Criminal Police Office said in an annual report released on Tuesday that the number of violent crimes with a rightwing motive in Germany was up more than 17% last year to 1,488. That was part of an overall 15% increase in violent politically motivated offences to 4,107.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- The Independent
Germany says it broke up a far-right group that planned attacks. 5 teens have been arrested
German police on Wednesday arrested five teenagers accused of involvement with a right-wing extremist group calling itself 'Last Defense Wave' that allegedly aimed to destabilize the country's democratic system by carrying out attacks on migrants and political opponents. The early-morning arrests in various parts of Germany were accompanied by searches at 13 properties, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Four of those arrested — identified only as Benjamin H., Ben-Maxim H., Lenny M. and Jason R., in line with German privacy rules — are suspected of membership in a domestic terror organization. The fifth, Jerome M., is accused of supporting the group. Two of the arrested also are accused of attempted murder and aggravated arson. All are between the ages of 14 and 18. Prosecutors said they are also investigating three other people, ages 18 to 21, who are already in custody. All the suspects are German citizens. According to the prosecutors, the group was formed in mid-April 2024 or earlier. They said that its members saw themselves as the last resort to defend the 'German nation' and aimed to bring about the collapse of Germany's democratic order, with attacks on homes for asylum-seekers and on facilities associated with the left-wing political spectrum. Two of the suspects set a fire at a cultural center in Altdöbern in eastern Germany in October, prosecutors said, adding that several people living in the building at the time escaped injury only by chance. In January, another two suspects allegedly broke a window at a home for asylum-seekers in Schmölln and tried unsuccessfully to start a blaze by setting off fireworks. They daubed the group's initials and slogans such as 'Foreigners out,' 'Germany for the Germans' and ' Nazi area," as well as swastikas, prosecutors said. Also in January, three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on a home for asylum-seekers in Senftenberg, but it never came about because of the earlier arrests of two of the men. Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said it was 'particularly shocking' that all of those arrested Wednesday were minors at the time the group was allegedly founded. 'This is an alarm signal and it shows that right-wing extremist terrorism knows no age,' Hubig said in a statement. In a separate case a week ago, German authorities banned a far-right group called 'Kingdom of Germany' as a threat to the country's democratic order and arrested four of its alleged leaders. In an annual report released Tuesday, the Federal Criminal Police Office said that the number of violent crimes with a right-wing motivation was up 17.2% last year to 1,488. That was part of an overall increase in violent politically motivated offenses to 4,107, an increase of 15.3%.
Al Arabiya
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Germany arrests far-right teenagers over asylum seeker attacks
German prosecutors said Wednesday that police had swooped on a group of far-right teenagers alleged to have carried out attacks on asylum seekers and plotted to undermine the government. The suspects, reportedly aged 14 to 18, are said to have been members of a 'right-wing extremist terrorist organisation' founded in April 2024 and known as the 'Last Wave of Defence,' the federal prosecutor's office said. Their aim was 'to bring about the collapse of the democratic system in the Federal Republic of Germany through acts of violence, primarily against migrants and political opponents,' the office said in a statement. Five teenage males — four members and one supporter of the group — were arrested in nationwide raids on Wednesday morning. Two of them, partially identified as Jerome M. and Lenny M., were also accused of attempted murder and arson. Prosecutors said the pair allegedly set fire to a cultural centre in the town of Altdoebern, in the eastern region of Brandenburg, in October. At the time, the building was occupied by several people, who escaped unharmed. Police searched a total of 13 properties during the raids, which also targeted locations linked to three other alleged members of the group who had already been arrested. Two of those suspects had allegedly smashed a window at an asylum seeker shelter in Schmoelln, in the eastern region of Thuringia, in January. They then attempted to start a fire by launching fireworks through the broken window, but failed to ignite a blaze. The pair also spray-painted the building with far-right slogans, including 'Foreigners out,' 'Germany for the Germans,' and 'Nazi territory.' Germany's Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said in a statement that what was 'particularly shocking is that all those arrested today are said to have been minors when the terrorist group was founded.'
