The travel group of bowlers from Münster is accused of arson. They are said to have flicked lit cigarettes onto the roof of a restaurant and poured alcohol on them. It could end up being expensive for them. 12 are still in custody. A report provides information about their condition.
Actually, it should only be a long weekend for the cone brothers from Münster. More than two weeks after the fire they are suspected to have started, twelve of them remain in custody in Mallorca. One has already been released, reports the “Mallorca Zeitung”. Four more of the men can hope for release later this week on bail of 12,000 euros each.
In the end, it could be significantly more expensive for the group – for everyone: Regardless of the pre-trial detention, the judge accepted joint and several liability of 500,000 euros for all 13 suspects for damage that occurred. This can take effect if they are all convicted as accomplices. Shortly after the fire, there was already talk of property damage of 150,000 euros.
What had happened: In the fire near Ballermann on May 20, two restaurants and an apartment were damaged. The cone brothers were suspected of having wildly celebrated on the balconies of their hotel rooms above the establishments and of having thrown burning cigarette butts onto the reed roof of the terrace of a bar run by a Cologne landlady and even poured alcohol on it. Two people also suffered minor injuries. Since then, initially 13 and now 12 of the Germans, mostly in their mid-20s, have been in custody.
According to the “Mallorca Zeitung”, the cone brothers have now been visited by delegations of diplomatic representatives and those from church communities in detention. “Members of the German consulate in Mallorca as well as the Catholic and Protestant community were able to visit them on Saturday in custody and report on young men – the detainees are in their mid-20s – whose reasonable, level-headed and polite demeanor does not at all match the image of Ballermann- riot brothers fits together,” reports the newspaper. Several of them are members of the volunteer fire brigade in Münster, and some have apparently never been abroad before their trip to Mallorca.
The visitors also reported that the judge’s decision that eight of the cone brothers must remain in custody was a hard blow for the men. However, the cohesion among the men, some of whom have known each other since childhood, is great. The “Mallorca Zeitung” then mentions further details on the division of cells and what impression the men are said to have made on the prison administration.
However, there are also incriminating testimonies against the men from neighbors. Accordingly, they should have laughed, bawled, poured beer from the balcony and filmed the fire. According to the “Mallorca Zeitung”, during their last interrogation, the men spoke of misunderstandings and underlined that they had sounded the alarm and wanted to help fight the fire.
