Transform [the described action]. - Ruling following abduction by alleged occultist spellcaster
Roughly one and a half years after the purported voodoo magician from Leipzig was kidnapped, five individuals have been given probationary sentences. The presiding judge at the Leipzig Regional Court, Bernd Gicklhorn, elaborated on the decision, stating that the incident was "depicted less dramatically than initially alleged."
Four men were given two-year suspended sentences for robbery, aggravated assault, and attempted extortion each, while another defendant received a six-month sentence for aiding and abetting. The verdicts have yet to be enforced. The prosecution has announced that they will re-examine the case.
The case is intriguing: At the start of last year, a Syrian family residing in Magdeburg employed a man from Cameroon who claimed to be able to multiply money through witchcraft. The family paid the man 15,000 euros, expecting the multiplication to be successful. However, the process failed, despite the use of mysterious fluids and incantations.
"The family was deceived by an elaborate scheme, which the court has yet to fully comprehend," explained the judge. The court attributed the family's gullibility to "lack of common sense, extraordinary boldness, and outlandish assertions by the victim."
The fact that the family members refrained from reporting the incident to the police was also attributed to "moral considerations," as the court stated. They "did not want to admit how easily they had been duped."
A Hollywood-esque abduction
With his two sons and companions, the father traced down the con artist in a housing estate in Leipzig, where the masked men kidnapped the man in a remarkably dramatic manner. Blanks were fired into the air from a starting pistol to frighten potential witnesses. Having found no money, they brought the man to Magdeburg, where they assaulted and bound him.
Their ransom demand to the uncle of the victim proved unsuccessful, as he declined to pay. So, two days later, they returned to Leipzig to search the alleged magician's apartment once more. It was there that they were arrested by the police, who had been keeping tabs on the apartment.
During the trial, the initial charges of kidnapping and extortion could not be substantiated, noted prosecutor Sebastian Batzer. "For kidnapping, the victim would have had to have believed he was facing a death threat. There was insufficient evidence for this."
The plaintiff did not appear in court. However, he had previously informed an investigating judge that he had endured assault but not a death threat. Additionally, the court found that the family no longer sought anything other than reclaiming the money they had lost.
The assumed voodoo practitioner is also being investigated by the police.
The public prosecutor had solicited a prison term of up to three years and four months for three men and probation for the remaining two. The defense, in contrast, appealed for acquittal for one of the defendants and probation for the others. The magician is still under scrutiny by law enforcement authorities. The defendants expressed remorse in their final statements and solicited a "second chance" from the judge.
