Police Chief Faces Fine in 'Torture' Case

Prosecutors on Thursday recommended that Frankfurt's former deputy police chief be given a suspended fine for threatening to inflict pain on the main suspect in the abduction and murder of the 11-year-old son of a banker. Wolfgang Daschner (61) was accused of giving the order to a senior officer in the interrogation of Magnus Gäfgen, who was suspected of kidnapping Jakob von Metzler. At the time of the questioning in October 2002, the boy was still listed as missing. Only later did it emerge that he had already been killed by Gäfgen. The prosecutor requested that Daschner be given a suspended fine of €27,000 ($35,800) and pay €10,000 to charity. That sum will not be suspended. In his summing-up, prosecutor Wilhelm Möllers said the extraordinary circumstances of the case meant that the sentence should be far more lenient than the normal penalty for incitement to intimidation, which carries a prison term of between six months and five years. The prosecutor also recommended that the 51-year-old senior officer, who has not been named, be given a suspended fine of €14,400 and pay €5,000 to charity. A verdict is expected on Dec. 20. Gäfgen (29) was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2003 for kidnapping and murdering the boy.