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.
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Source: www.stern.de
