Reproduce the given title or outline with different words. Maintain the identities if present. Ensure the length of the text stays the same as the input. Refrain from including any message from yourself. Rewrite the given text in a new way, without expressing that it's been paraphrased. - Boateng denies allegations, describing it as a nightmare.
Ex-German footballer Jerome Boateng has refuted the assault allegations put forth against him in court. According to the 35-year-old, he doesn't initiate violence in arguments. Instead, he solely defends himself when being attacked.
Boateng's former partner, who's the mother of their fraternal twins, and the prosecution assert that he's the one who harmed her physically. Her accusations involve him hurling a windmill and a cooler box at her, and later, hitting her. Boateng strongly denies these claims. She allegedly instigated him whilst they were on a Caribbean holiday in 2018. He defended himself, pushed her away, and unintentionally inflicted injuries.
"This torments me, and I've already apologized for it," Boateng admitted, stating that "what she contrived out of it is completely baseless and has brought catastrophe upon everything around me, us."
Boateng expressed his longing to play football professionally for a couple more years. However, due to the accusations against him, he lost that opportunity. "I also lost all my endorsement deals" because business partners wanted nothing to do with someone labelled a "wife beater," he explained. Boateng initially didn't wish to disclose his private matters. Nevertheless, "I'm not going to stand by and watch as my reputation and future are increasingly tarnished."
Judge speaks out against "intensive media prejudice of the defendant"
Beforehand, the effort of presiding judge Susanne Hemmerich to facilitate a compromise between the defense and prosecution failed. "I've been practicing this profession for 40 years," she declared. And she'd "never experienced such intensive media prejudice of the defendant" before.
This case has been in court for six years - partly due to the pandemic, partly because of oversights within the justice system. And for six years, their 13-year-old children, who are the children of Boateng and his accusing ex-girlfriend, have had to read in the newspapers how their parents were fighting in court. Hemmerich stressed the necessity of "resolving this matter, especially for the children - finally an end," emphasising that "I firmly believe I have a proposal that everyone can accept." However, it wasn't accepted.
A protracted court case
This is the fourth time the case has been presented to a court during their 2018 vacation in the Caribbean. The proceedings against the long-term FC Bayern defender who recently transferred to Linzer ASK in Austria have been going on for a while. In 2019, an indictment was submitted, and in 2021, the Munich Magistrates' Court penalized Boateng with 60 installments of €30,000 each, resulting in a total of €1.8 million.
The Munich Regional Court I found Boateng guilty in the second degree for bodily harm and slander to a fine of 120 installments of €10,000 each - equating to €1.2 million. However, the Higher Court in Bavaria voided the judgment. After the legally conclusive conclusion of this case, Boateng retains the presumption of innocence.
