Latest news with #FederalCourtofJustice
Euractiv
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Alleged spy for Iran handed over to Germany after spying on Jewish targets
Denmark has extradited to Germany a man accused of spying on Jewish institutions in Berlin on behalf of Iran, German prosecutors said on Tuesday. Germany's Federal Court of Justice formally ordered the Danish national's detention on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The suspect, identified only as Ali S., was extradited to Germany on Monday, nearly three weeks after his arrest in the Danish city of Aarhus, the office said. Prosecutors allege that Ali S. in June gathered intelligence on three Jewish sites in Berlin, possibly in preparation for future attacks. Suspected of acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence, Ali S. could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. His arrest followed intelligence provided by Germany's domestic security agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office was also involved in the investigation. News magazine Der Spiegel and public broadcaster ARD reported that the suspect is 53, has Afghan roots and might have been acting on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. They also reported that he had monitored the headquarters of the German-Israeli Society. Germany's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on July 1 following the man's arrest. (mm)
Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann suspect petition launched by mums in bid to keep him in jail
Christian Brueckner is due to be released in less than three months after completing a seven-year term for rape. Prosecutors believe he abducted and killed Madeleine in May 2007 Concerned parents have launched a petition in Germany to block the release of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner. The paedophile and rapist is just weeks away from being freed from prison, despite being the only suspect in Madeleine's 2007 disappearance. Prosecutors appear no nearer to charging him and are powerless to stop him being released. He is due to walk out of Sehnde prison on September 17. Now a group has launched an online campaign demanding German authorities activate emergency investigative custody or full 'preventive detention' - a method which could keep Brückner behind bars indefinitely. To justify the move, the group argues that Brückner poses an indisputable ongoing threat to public safety. Yvonne Gotteskind Behlke, 36, a mum from near Hanover said: 'I have children myself. I can't understand that with everything that's been found, and with his previous convictions for child abuse, he is set to walk free.' "There are so many things here that they could actually keep him in prison for life, even if they can't prove it with Maddie McCann now. To be honest, I don't understand any of it anymore. That's why I said, well, I'm going to try and raise the alarm here. "So, I'm going to speak up.' The campaigners say his pattern of alleged offences should be more than enough to keep him behind bars. 'I want to get lots and lots of signatures and then, ideally, to get on TV so that the public prosecutor's office has to comment publicly on all this stuff, and say why and how Brückner is a danger to everything and everyone, and that they can't let him out, regardless of whether they find anything else or not,' added Yvonne. 'I want them to take an official stand and really stand up for humanity publicly.' Despite a lengthy police investigation, detectives appear to be no closer to charging Brueckner over Madeleine's disappearance. He was cleared last October of a string of sex crimes he was accused of carrying out in Portugal. Prosecutors are awaiting the outcome of an appeal against those verdicts lodged in Germany's Federal Court of Justice. Brueckner denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance. German search teams spent three days hunting for evidence in Portugal earlier this month. Brueckner was living in a ramshackle farmhouse on the edge of Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished from the holiday resort. Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leics, were dining with friends at the time she disappeared. They continue to hope they will one day be reunited with their daughter.
Irish Daily Mirror
16-06-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann suspect plans new life on 'billionaire island'
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is planning to move to Germany's 'billionaire playground island' when he is released from jail. The 48-year-old convicted rapist and paedophile is due to be freed from prison in September and previously boasted he plans to go into hiding. Now his lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher has claimed Brueckner plans to stay in Germany after his release - and has already chosen a new home. 'According to my information, he plans to settle in Schleswig-Holstein,' Fuelscher told Bild. And Brueckner has a very specific location in mind - the exclusive North Sea island of Sylt. 'Sylt has appealed to him in the past,' Fuelscher added. Brueckner previously ran a cannabis dealing operation on the island and was handed a suspended sentence in 2011. He is due to complete his current seven-year rape sentence in Sehnde prison on September 17. His legal team thought he would have to stay behind bars for a further five months because he owed an outstanding €1,400 fine. But German tabloid Bild claims an anonymous female donor has now paid the fine on Brückner's behalf — clearing the final obstacle to his release. Despite a lengthy police investigation, detectives appear to be no closer to charging him over Madeleine's disappearance. He was cleared last October of a string of sex crimes he was accused of carrying out in Portugal. Prosecutors are awaiting the outcome of an appeal against those verdicts lodged in Germany's Federal Court of Justice. Brueckner denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance. German search teams spent three days hunting for evidence in Portugal earlier this month. Brueckner was living in a ramshackle farmhouse on the edge of Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished from the holiday resort in May 2007. Sylt is Germany's northernmost island, nestled in the North Sea just off Schleswig‑Holstein. It has been connected to the mainland by the Hindenburgdamm causeway since 1927. In WW2 it was heavily fortified with concrete bunkers hidden beneath dunes, and some of this wreckage and relics dot the island's landscape today. From the 1960s, Sylt reinvented itself into a jet‑set playground for rich movers and shakers, and it is still this way entrepreneurs, VIPs, celebrities, and models flock here for gourmet dining, designer boutiques, luxury spas, and even the famed 'Whisky Mile' in Kampen. It is also known for its dramatic sand dunes and vast 40 km beaches. In recent years, however, the island has also become the stage for disturbing far‑right incidents. A shocking video emerged showing patrons in a Sylt nightclub chanting a Nazi slogan - 'Germany for the Germans – foreigners out' - prompting a nationwide outrage. The scandal rocked Germany because this time, instead of far-right thugs and skinheads it was wealthy 'yuppies' orchestrating it. Left‑wing protest groups pitched protest camps on the island against what they claimed was elite gentrification and far‑right infiltration.
Daily Mirror
16-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann suspect planning major move as he expects release from jail
Christian Brueckner wants to move to Sylt when he walks free from prison, according to his lawyer. Reports also suggest a secret female donor has paid his outstanding €1,400 fine Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is planning to move to Germany's 'billionaire playground island' when he is released from jail. The 48-year-old convicted rapist and paedophile is due to be freed from prison in September and previously boasted he plans to go into hiding. Now his lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher has claimed Brueckner plans to stay in Germany after his release - and has already chosen a new home. 'According to my information, he plans to settle in Schleswig-Holstein,' Fuelscher told Bild. And Brueckner has a very specific location in mind - the exclusive North Sea island of Sylt. 'Sylt has appealed to him in the past,' Fuelscher added. Brueckner previously ran a cannabis dealing operation on the island and was handed a suspended sentence in 2011. He is due to complete his current seven-year rape sentence in Sehnde prison on September 17. His legal team thought he would have to stay behind bars for a further five months because he owed an outstanding €1,400 fine. But German tabloid Bild claims an anonymous female donor has now paid the fine on Brückner's behalf — clearing the final obstacle to his release. Despite a lengthy police investigation, detectives appear to be no closer to charging him over Madeleine's disappearance. He was cleared last October of a string of sex crimes he was accused of carrying out in Portugal. Prosecutors are awaiting the outcome of an appeal against those verdicts lodged in Germany's Federal Court of Justice. Brueckner denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance. German search teams spent three days hunting for evidence in Portugal earlier this month. Brueckner was living in a ramshackle farmhouse on the edge of Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished from the holiday resort in May 2007. Sylt is Germany's northernmost island, nestled in the North Sea just off Schleswig‑Holstein. It has been connected to the mainland by the Hindenburgdamm causeway since 1927. In WW2 it was heavily fortified with concrete bunkers hidden beneath dunes, and some of this wreckage and relics dot the island's landscape today. From the 1960s, Sylt reinvented itself into a jet‑set playground for rich movers and shakers, and it is still this way today. Affluent entrepreneurs, VIPs, celebrities, and models flock here for gourmet dining, designer boutiques, luxury spas, and even the famed 'Whisky Mile' in Kampen. It is also known for its dramatic sand dunes and vast 40 km beaches. In recent years, however, the island has also become the stage for disturbing far‑right incidents. A shocking video emerged showing patrons in a Sylt nightclub chanting a Nazi slogan - 'Germany for the Germans – foreigners out' - prompting a nationwide outrage. The scandal rocked Germany because this time, instead of far-right thugs and skinheads it was wealthy 'yuppies' orchestrating it. Left‑wing protest groups pitched protest camps on the island against what they claimed was elite gentrification and far‑right infiltration.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suspected member of Yemen's Houthi rebels arrested in Germany
German authorities have arrested a man suspected of being a member of Yemen's Houthi militia, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. The suspect, a Yemeni national who was taken into custody in the southern town of Dachau, just outside Munich, is believed to have joined the group in Yemen in 2022, undergoing military training and ideological instructions. According to Germany's top law enforcement agency, he joined fighting in Yemen's Marib province in early 2023. Prosecutors accuse the suspect of having been a member of a terrorist organization abroad as an adolescent. Under German criminal law, anyone aged between 18 and 21 at the time of the offence is classified as an adolescent. The accused, only named as Hussein H. in line with Germany's strict privacy laws, was remanded in custody after being brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. Federal prosecutors, who are also based in Karlsruhe, said the declared aim of the Houthis is "to strengthen and expand their position of power in Yemen and to destroy Israel." The Iran-backed rebel group, which controls large parts of war-torn Yemen, has been firing missiles at Israel since the beginning of the latest Gaza war in what it says is a show of solidarity with Palestinian extremist movement Hamas, another Iranian proxy group. The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
