People - "4 Blocks" star Ramadan to start prison sentence
"Star Kida Khodr Ramadan was summoned to prison. He was reportedly "ordered to report to prison within fourteen days" by a spokesperson of the Berlin State Prosecutor's Office in response to an inquiry. The 47-year-old was sentenced to ten months in prison in Berlin in February 2022 for traffic violations, initially on probation. However, this probation was revoked. Ramadan received a summons to serve his sentence at the beginning of the year. He resisted this with various means, but so far unsuccessfully.
Exact date of imprisonment unknown
The spokesperson of the prosecutor's office could not say when the actor would have to report to prison in concrete terms.
Background of the sentencing were 33 cases in which Ramadan was caught driving without a license. According to his lawyer Kai Walden, the reason why Ramadan is to be imprisoned instead of being placed on probation again is due to a procedural error in the revocation of the probation.
Gnadengesuch filed
Walden, a lawyer from Hamburg, has represented the actor for several months and has attempted to prevent the prison sentence in various ways. Most recently, he filed a clemency petition for his client. The Berlin Senate Justice Administration still has to decide on this matter. This process, however, does not have a suspensive effect, according to the prosecutor's office.
Walden stated to the German Press Agency that "there are significant grounds for clemency due to the unlawfulness of the probation revocation decision." The "public interest does not require immediate execution." The Senate Justice Administration now has to decide on this.
If all legal remedies have been exhausted without success, Ramadan will "of course" surrender himself to the summons, according to his lawyer. "He is not claiming any special privileges for himself," Walden added.
Further sentencing not yet legally binding
Despite the sentencing that is now supposed to send Ramadan to prison, the actor was again caught up in traffic offenses in 2023. At the end of February, the Amtsgericht Tiergarten sentenced him again for deliberate driving without a license - this time directly to a prison sentence of ten months. Since the 47-year-old was already serving a suspended sentence, the Amtsgericht Tiergarten saw no probation. In addition, it imposed a one-year driving ban.
Both Ramadan and the prosecutor's office have appealed the judgment. The prosecutor's office had requested a total sentence of 14 months in prison. The defense had requested probation.
Became known through "4 Blocks"
Ramadan played the head of a criminal Arab-descended clan in Berlin-Neukölln in the critically acclaimed series "4 Blocks," which requires him to deal with murder, violence, drug deals, other gangs, and the police from the LKA. The multiple award-winning series was a breakthrough for him as an actor. At the beginning of the year, the seven-part ARD series "Testo," in which he is the lead actor, co-author, and co-director, premiered."
- Despite the revocation of his probation and the subsequent prison sentence, Ramadan's lawyer, Kai Walden, has filed a clemency petition with the Berlin Senate Justice Administration, arguing that the decision to revoke probation was unlawful.
- The Berlin State Prosecutor's Office ordered Star Kida Khodr Ramadan to report to prison within fourteen days in February 2022, following his conviction for multiple traffic violations, which led to a ten-month prison sentence.
- Ramadan initially received a probationary sentence for his traffic violations, but this was later revoked due to a procedural error, which resulted in him serving his full prison sentence in Berlin.
- If all legal remedies are exhausted without success, Ramadan, known for his role in the critically acclaimed series "4 Blocks," will have to surrender himself to the prison summons, according to his lawyer, Kai Walden.
- The public prosecutor's office in Berlin could not provide a concrete date for Ramadan's prison sentence, leaving the exact date of his imprisonment unknown.
- In Germany's penal system, Ramadan was initially placed on probation for his traffic violations but had his sentence revoked and was subsequently ordered to serve a prison sentence due to a procedural error.
