A rejected asylum seeker received a lighter sentence for manslaughter after the court took into account a payment of ‘blood money’ made under Shariah and tribal customs.
In June 2024, Abdi A. stabbed his childhood friend Abdihannan M. during an argument over noise levels in their building. The latter succumbed to his injuries. Reportedly, the altercation followed the duo’s indulgence in a drug-fuelled weekend of partying.
Sentenced to four years in prison by the Berlin Regional Court for manslaughter, Abdi A. was able to use his family’s payment of ‘blood money’ to his victim’s family as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
The verdict, as quoted by Nius, states
At an undisclosed date before the start of the main trial, the families of origin of the injured party and the defendant in Ethiopia agreed on the payment of a so-called blood money in the amount of $100,000 [€84,670].
The father of the convicted man is reportedly a civil servant in Ethiopia, who liquidated assets to make the payment. Under local custom and Islamic law, the receipt of blood money means that relatives of the deceased should forfeit any claims to ‘blood vengeance.’
Abdi A’s relatively privileged background hints at why his earlier asylum claim was not upheld, although from 2016 he had continued to stay in Germany—and is likely to remain there after serving his greatly reduced four-year sentence.
