Germans are baffled at how a Syrian convict was freed to re-offend shortly after inflicting a bloody head wound on an elderly Christian. The unnamed 27-year-old refugee attacked his 79-year-old victim in June for wearing a crucifix, prompting the authorities to classify the assault as an act in the “religious sphere.” Remarkably, the assailant was not taken into custody.
According to the Gera public prosecutor’s office, after briefly arresting the perpetrator, police were unable to detain him “due to a lack of legal requirements.” Two days later, he randomly attacked nine people, including several elderly citizens, causing multiple injuries. One victim suffered a brain haemorrhage, followed by a stroke and hospitalisation. After being arrested for these attacks, the suspect was detained in a psychiatric facility.
June’s one-man violent crime wave has put pressure on the authorities in the city of Gera, in the state of Thuringia, to explain their latest failure in public safety. Most if not all of the assaults were avoidable, given the criminal background of the assailant—if only decisive action had been taken sooner.
Apollo News reports that the suspect, who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015, committed his first recorded crime in 2017. The Gera Regional Court then sentenced him to 30 months of youth detention for multiple dangerous bodily harm offences. The Gera District Court later sentenced him to two years and nine months’ imprisonment in 2019 and one year’s imprisonment in 2022 for violations of the Narcotics Act and other crimes, including further bodily harm offences.
He also faces possible action from the public prosecutor’s office for 15 cases of intentional bodily harm, including one against law enforcement officers and one each in connection with robbery and robbery with extortion, among other charges.
