German court gives man life over 14 year-old girl's murder
A German court sentenced an Eritrean man on Tuesday to life in prison over the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old girl in a case that sparked nationwide shock and angry protests.
A spokeswoman for the tribunal in the southern city of Ulm told AFP the 27-year-old Eritrean had been convicted of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm for the December 2022 attack.
Because the court found a "particular severity of guilt", the defendant identified only as Okba B. is highly unlikely to be released on parole after 15 years, as is common in Germany.
The assailant, who had lived in Germany for seven years, attacked the 14-year-old victim Ece and a 13-year-old girl who happened to be walking together past his refugee shelter in the southern town of Illerkirchberg.
Ece was stabbed 23 times and her younger friend was critically injured with a knife that investigators said the attacker intended to brandish at the local immigration office to demand travel documents so he could marry in Ethiopia.
The court concluded that he assaulted the girls at random after one saw the knife and he feared they would report him to police.
Assuming irrationally that the two (children) had noticed the knife... he spontaneously decided to kill them," public prosecutors said in their indictment.
READ ALSO: German police probe fatal knife attack on schoolgirl
Okba B., who was reportedly employed and speaks German well, told the court that he was "shocked by the act" and regretted it.
He also expressed his condolences and asked the families for forgiveness.
The case triggered revulsion across Germany and prompted local demonstrations.
Ece's parents successfully appealed for the asylum seekers' shelter in the town to be torn down, according to media reports.
However, the families of both girls pleaded for the case not to be politically exploited by anti-immigration parties and asked the community to come together in mourning Ece.
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A spokeswoman for the tribunal in the southern city of Ulm told AFP the 27-year-old Eritrean had been convicted of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm for the December 2022 attack.
Because the court found a "particular severity of guilt", the defendant identified only as Okba B. is highly unlikely to be released on parole after 15 years, as is common in Germany.
The assailant, who had lived in Germany for seven years, attacked the 14-year-old victim Ece and a 13-year-old girl who happened to be walking together past his refugee shelter in the southern town of Illerkirchberg.
Ece was stabbed 23 times and her younger friend was critically injured with a knife that investigators said the attacker intended to brandish at the local immigration office to demand travel documents so he could marry in Ethiopia.
The court concluded that he assaulted the girls at random after one saw the knife and he feared they would report him to police.
Assuming irrationally that the two (children) had noticed the knife... he spontaneously decided to kill them," public prosecutors said in their indictment.
READ ALSO: German police probe fatal knife attack on schoolgirl
Okba B., who was reportedly employed and speaks German well, told the court that he was "shocked by the act" and regretted it.
He also expressed his condolences and asked the families for forgiveness.
The case triggered revulsion across Germany and prompted local demonstrations.
Ece's parents successfully appealed for the asylum seekers' shelter in the town to be torn down, according to media reports.
However, the families of both girls pleaded for the case not to be politically exploited by anti-immigration parties and asked the community to come together in mourning Ece.
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