Israel Attack on Jewish student - three years in prison
Following the attack on the Jewish student Lahav Shapira in Berlin, a 24-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison in the German capital.
17.04.2025, 18:05
SDA
The local court in the Tiergarten district found the victim's then fellow student guilty of dangerous bodily harm and assumed an anti-Semitic motive.
The court thus went beyond the request of the public prosecutor's office. Public prosecutor Tim Kaufmann had demanded a prison sentence of two years and four months. The crime was an "anti-Semitic excess of violence", as prosecutor Tim Kaufmann said in his plea. "Lahav Shapira was attacked because he is Jewish and spoke out against anti-Semitism," said the public prosecutor.
Defendant apologizes in closing statement
The defendant had confessed to the act of violence in court and asked for forgiveness. However, the 24-year-old rejected the accusation of anti-Semitism. "It wasn't about politics for me, but about cooperation between fellow students," said the former FU teaching degree student, who was born in Berlin and whose parents are from Lebanon.
In his closing words shortly before the verdict, he personally apologized to Shapira. "I am sorry to have caused you pain." His defense lawyer pleaded for a suspended sentence of one year and nine months for intentional bodily harm as well as a fine.
Met by chance in a bar in Berlin-Mitte
The accused and the victim met by chance in a bar in Berlin-Mitte on February 2, 2024. When the Jewish student left the bar, the 24-year-old followed him, according to his own statements. According to his confession, he accused Shapira of his actions in a WhatsApp group of FU students and that he had torn down posters at the FU. Then it came to an argument - and he struck. According to the 24-year-old, he had underestimated his martial arts experience.
According to the verdict, the Jewish student was knocked out with his fist by his former fellow student. As he lay bleeding on the ground, he was then kicked in the face with full force. The 32-year-old suffered a complex mid-face fracture and a brain haemorrhage. He had to undergo several operations.
