- After the attack on Giffey, a 74-year-old man is being committed to a psychiatric ward.
About three months after an attack on Berlin's Senator for the Economy, Franziska Giffey (SPD), the Public Prosecutor's Office has concluded its investigation and forwarded the case to the Berlin Regional Court. In a so-called secure procedure, judges will decide on the commitment of the suspected perpetrator to a psychiatric hospital.
Expert sees risk of further offenses
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, there are indications that the 74-year-old committed the act in a state of non-responsibility, making him untriable. The reason is said to be a severe mental illness. According to an expert who examined the man, there is a risk that he will commit similar offenses again. Therefore, the Public Prosecutor's Office is seeking his permanent commitment in the so-called application document, as a spokesperson said.
According to the investigation, the man struck Giffey with a heavy bag on the head and neck on May 7 in the Gertrud-Haß library in Berlin-Rudow. The Senator suffered severe pain for two days. The Public Prosecutor's Office considers this a dangerous bodily harm.
Suspected perpetrator arrested less than 24 hours later
At the time, Giffey had visited the library in the Alt-Rudow district in the south of Berlin and was, according to her own statements, engrossed in her conversation with the head of the facility. Suddenly, she felt a hard blow to her head and neck from behind.**
Less than 24 hours later, police arrested the 74-year-old as the suspected perpetrator. He was already known to the police due to findings in the area of hate crime, it was said at the time. The man has been provisionally accommodated in the hospital of the penal system since then.
Despite being known to the police for previous incidents related to hate crime, the suspect, who hails from Germany, was arrested less than 24 hours after attacking Senator Giffey. Due to the severe mental illness he allegedly has, the Public Prosecutor's Office is advocating for his permanent commitment in Germany's legal system, citing the risk of future offenses.
