Hamburg: Notable city in Germany. - Hostage-taker at the airport displays irritation and raises his voice during the court proceedings.
Using emergency phone calls, videos, and witnesses, judges have pieced together the details of the 18-hour hostage situation at Hamburg Airport, which was briefly interrupted by the defendant during the trial.
Suddenly and loudly, the defendant exclaimed, "What did we discuss for 18 hours there?" He interrupted the presiding judge, who was reading through documents from the investigation.
The prosecution has charged the 35-year-old man with kidnapping, child endangerment, aggravated assault, and weapons violations. The motivation behind the crime was a long-standing custody dispute.
During the trial, the defendant became agitated and started speaking in Turkish. He couldn't be silenced by the judge and even slammed the table several times with his hand. While the defendant's outburst was incomprehensible, he eventually calmed down and refocused on the trial.
The presiding judge asked him, "Can we agree that you won't lose your temper like this again?"
The defendant, speaking through an interpreter, replied, "This has something to do with the judge in the custody dispute at the time." He also mentioned that he had talked a lot during the 18 hours at the airport. The judge urged him to avoid such behavior, stating, "Shouting and hitting the table doesn't help anyone."
The defendant had forcefully taken his then-four-year-old daughter from his ex-wife's apartment in Stade, Lower Saxony, on November 4 of the previous year. He had assaulted her and then drove the girl to the airport in a rental car, breaching three barriers in the process.
A criminal investigator, who had led the investigation, shared his insights as a witness. "Many things suggest that it was a desperate act," he said. The defendant had repeatedly expressed his belief that he was the father and that this wasn't kidnapping. It was evident that "he made it clear that he was a threat."
The court viewed video recordings from Stade on the day the defendant took the girl from her apartment using a ruse. They also examined the defendant's cell phone data, which contained information about weapons.
The defendant began by making calls from the airport to the police. His speech was barely comprehensible, and he demanded a Turkish interpreter. An officer on the phone tried to soothe the man and urged him not to put the child in danger.
Throughout the hours that followed, the defendant demanded a plane to take him and his daughter to Turkey. He menaced authorities with talk of a private jet, fired three shots into the air, and threatened to detonate a bomb belt. At the trial's beginning, the defendant had admitted most of his actions.
The trial will proceed on June 5th.
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Read also:
- The hostage-taker, originating from Lower Saxony, raised concerns during the court proceedings at Hamburg Airport.
- The defense attorney argued that the hostage-taking was a result of a complex custody dispute, which took place in both Hamburg and Lower Saxony.
- The process in the court required translators in order to communicate effectively, considering the defendant's preference for speaking Turkish.
- The man's acts of hostage-taking led to multiple charges, including hostage-taking, child endangerment, and weapons violations, all related to the incident at Hamburg Airport.
- The incident disrupted German air traffic, leading to an increase in emergency calls and a significant response from law enforcement.
- After the trial, the defendant's ex-wife and daughter resided in different parts of Germany, continuing their lives amidst the disturbing ordeal.
