The fact that a suicide-prone youth was shot dead during a police operation caused horror across the country last year. It may be a while before a court deals with it. The reason is a busy schedule.
Dortmund (dpa / lnw) – In the case of the 16-year-old who was shot by a police officer in Dortmund, it will probably be a while before the court hears about it. “We’re talking more about months than weeks”, a start in the second half of the year is realistic, said the spokeswoman for the Dortmund district court, Nesrin Öcal. The reason is therefore a very busy schedule of the circuit court, which would deal with the case, should the indictment be admitted to the main hearing.
According to Öcal, the chamber will soon be hearing many detention cases – i.e. cases in which the accused are in custody. These would be given priority. However, none of the five officers charged in connection with the operation that killed the youth is in custody.
The public prosecutor had filed charges in mid-February. The shooter is charged with manslaughter. Three police officers were charged with dangerous bodily harm and the service group leader with incitement to dangerous bodily harm. Regional court spokeswoman Öcal said that the decision as to whether the charges would be admitted to the main hearing and whether there would be a trial had not yet been made.
The young refugee from Senegal is said to have threatened to kill himself with a knife on August 8. Police officers used tasers and pepper spray, and finally a police officer shot the 16-year-old with a submachine gun. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the use of Tasers and pepper spray was already disproportionate.
Lawyer Michael Emde, who represents the service group leader, emphasized: “The police officers primarily wanted to prevent him from committing suicide.” The head of operations therefore decided to call in plainclothes police officers so as not to further worry a possibly traumatized person. The situation at the scene – as stated by the public prosecutor – was initially static. “But within fractions of a second it can become a dynamic situation,” he said.
