Setting an Example
December 5, 2007
The judge at the district court in Oschatz, Saxony, near Leipzig, said the defendant was guilty of both inciting racial hatred and property damage during the Aug. 19 incident in which a mob of around 50 Germans chased eight Indian men through the streets of the Saxon town of Mügeln.
The men took refuge in a pizzeria, which the attackers assailed as they shouted xenophobic taunts. Fourteen people were injured, including all the Indians, two police officers and some of the attackers.
Judge Klaus Denk went beyond the state prosecutor's demands of a 10-month suspended sentence as well as the defense's request for a fine for property damage. The judge said a suspended sentence would have been inappropriate to prevent others from carrying out similar attacks.
"If we let this go, it's an invitation to dance," he said, adding that incident had been close to becoming a pogrom.
The defendant had admitted to throwing a grill into one of the pizzeria's windows, but denied he had been motivated by xenophobia or had shouted xenophobic slogans, such as "Germany for the Germans."
Several witnesses said the defendant had been one of the leaders of the attacks that started in the evening at a town fair.
Police still investigating
Last week, the Oschatz court sentenced an 18-year-old to a 600-euro ($880) fine for shouting racist slogans during the attacks. A 22-year-old has appealed his sentence to pay 2,625 euros for the same crime, while a 35-year-old man accepted a 1,500 fine for it.
The police are still investigating the actions of four Germans and four Indians at the fair, before the mob chased the immigrants through the streets to the pizzeria.
Further attacks in Magdeburg
Police in the eastern German city of Magdeburg are also investigating two cases of xenophobic attacks on foreigners, on the night of Saturday, Dec. 1.
In one incident, a pregnant Iraqi woman on a bud was beaten and subsequently hospitalized for pain in her abdomen. Two suspects were arrested and later released after being questioned by the state prosecutor's office.
In the other case, three men and a woman from Niger were attacked. Two of the Africans and a police officer, who stepped in to help them, were hurt. The police had not yet identified the perpetrators on Tuesday.