Middle East conflict: attack on Jewish students – three years in prison

The attack on the Jewish student Lahav Shapira in February 2024 in Berlin was an anti -Semitic act. The court therefore sentenced the 24-year-old defendant to a three-year sentence. It was guilty of dangerous bodily harm to the former teaching students of the Free University (FU).

Anyone who shows such a attitude “put the ax on our values,” said judge Sahin Sezer at the grounds of the judgment. It is about general prevention. “We have to keep other people from such crimes.” In view of the enormous increase in anti -Semitic crimes in Germany, people should be able to trust that the rule of law would pass through. The judgment is not yet final.

Klein: “Good and just judgment”

With the sentence, the court went beyond the public prosecutor’s request. This had requested a prison sentence of two years and four months. The act was an “anti -Semitic excess of violence”, said prosecutor Tim Kaufmann in his plea: “Lahav Shapira was attacked because he is a Jew and campaigned against anti -Semitism.”

The Federal Government’s anti -Semitism representative, Felix Klein, spoke of a “good and just judgment”. “I very much hope that the general prevention effect of this judgment actually has an effect.” Klein had personally followed the process. He rated the decision as “a signal to Israel” and the international Jewish community. “Trust in the German rule of law has been strengthened here,” said Klein.

Relief at Shapira

Shapira, who appeared in the process as a co -plaintiff, was relieved after the judgment: “I am glad that it is over.” According to the 32-year-old, he found the procedure stressful.

The accused had stood in court and asked for forgiveness. However, he rejected the allegation of anti -Semitism. “It was not about politics, but the cooperation among fellow students,” said the 24-year-old born in Berlin, whose parents come from Lebanon.

The accused and the victim accidentally met on February 2, 2024 in a bar in Berlin-Mitte. When the Jewish student left the restaurant, the 24-year-old followed him. He had accused Shapira in a WhatsApp group of FU students and that he had torn off posters at the FU, it was said in his confession. Then there was a dispute – and he struck. He underestimated his martial arts experience, said the accused.

The accused apologizes in the closing word

According to the judgment, he resigned to his former fellow students with his fist. When Shapira was bleeding on the ground, a kick in the face followed with full force. “As if he wanted to destroy him,” a witness described the attack in court. The 32-year-old suffered a complex medium-sized facial fracture and brain hemorrhage. He had to be operated on several times.

In his closing word shortly before the judgment, the accused apologizes personally at Shapira. “I’m sorry to have inflicted pain.” His defense lawyer advocated a probation penalty of one year and nine months as well as a money requirement.

The defendant’s confession was not “borne by guilt and remorse,” said the judge. The apology had “reasonably honest”. In the process, however, the accused only stood up, which was already determined anyway.