Germany: Trio convicted of killing gay man
June 8, 2019
A court in the eastern German city of Chemnitz has convicted three men of manslaughter in the killing of a 27-year-old gay man in a nearby town.
The court sentenced 26-year-old Terenc H. to 14 years in prison and Stephan H. and Jens H., both 22 years old, to 11 years each.
The trio, who were drunk and high on drugs, beat up Christopher W. in the town of Aue in April 2018 before kicking his head after they put it up against a concrete wall.
Chief prosecutor Stephan Butzkies said it was not proven that either the group's extreme right-wing views or the homophobic views of one of the group members motivated the killing.
The crime instead resulted from a "singular dynamic" that had developed in the lead-up to the assault.
Read more: Homophobic crimes in Germany up almost 20%
The final sentences were less than what the prosecution had asked for. Prosecutors had accused Terenc H. of being the group's leader and demanded he be convicted of murder, rather than manslaughter.
LAG Queer Network Saxony, a gay rights group, said the court did not adequately consider the men's homophobic views in its decision.
Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
amp/cmk (AP, epd)
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