German court hands down 1st sentence over Berlin New Year riots

Berlin, June 7 (IANS) A Berlin district court has concluded the first trial on the city’s New Year’s Eve riots, sentencing a 23-year-old man to eight months in prison on probation for attacking a police officer and attempted dangerous bodily harm.

The court considered it proven that the man intentionally threw a firecracker in the direction of a police officer on New Year’s Eve 2022. The convict only admitted to throwing the firecracker but denied any deliberate attack, Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident happened while the policeman was helping firefighters extinguish a burning flat in Berlin’s Wedding district. In this case, the officer was able to swiftly kick the firecracker away and was not hurt.

Across Germany, there were numerous riots with similar scenes on New Year’s Eve 2022. In Berlin alone, the public prosecutor’s office has already brought charges in 18 cases, while more than 110 are still pending investigations.

Authorities in Berlin initially said that of the 145 people arrested that night, most had an immigrant background. The statement was soon after corrected to 39, most of them of German nationality.