Process - Almost three years in prison for arson attack in Bochum
A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for the arson attack on a school in Bochum, which was actually intended to target the synagogue.
The German-Iranian was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated arson and attempted arson by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
He is said to have accepted the order from a former Hells Angels rocker wanted for murder who had absconded to Iran. The court is convinced that Iranian authorities were behind this. The court also assumed that an arson attack and shots fired at the rabbi's house in Essen were connected and that it had been a coordinated action to stir up insecurity in Germany.
Synagogue appeared too well secured to defendant
The accused shared the anti-Israeli stance of the Iranian regime. According to the court, he only threw the incendiary device at the neighboring school because the synagogue seemed too well secured to him. His client had written to the defendant from Iran shortly before the crime: "Brother, if you don't want to, let me know so that I don't get embarrassed here."
With the verdict, the court complied with the federal prosecution's criminal complaint. The defense had requested a six-month suspended prison sentence for damage to property.
The attack was solved because an acquaintance, whom the 36-year-old wanted to recruit as an accomplice, went to the police instead. In addition, mobile phone data and tapped phone calls revealed the plans.
The accused had confessed to throwing the Molotov cocktail at the school, but denied that the attack was actually intended to target the synagogue. The arson attack on November 17 last year caused minor damage to the school building.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
- The arson attack on the school in Bochum was initially planned to target the nearby synagogue, but the defendant opted for the school due to its perceived lack of security.
- The trial took place in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, where the German-Iranian was convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated arson and attempted arson.
- The court in Düsseldorf believed that the Iranian authorities were involved in the plot, as the orders for the attack originated from a former Hells Angels rocker who had fled to Iran.
- The verdict in Bochum follows a series of incidents involving criminality, including arson attacks and shootings, aimed at stoking insecurity in Germany, with connections to extremist groups in Iran.
- The threat of extremism and terrorism is not limited to Bochum or North Rhine-Westphalia, with precautionary arrests and heightened security measures necessary in other parts of Germany as well.
Source: www.stern.de
