Germany: "Dirty old nigger" not racist for justice system?
01 August 2006
In April 2006, Ermyan M., a German of Ethiopian origin, was severely injured in a racist attack in Brandenburg near Berlin. This incident, together with the increased sensitivity to racism with the expected arrival of foreign visitors for the World Cup, led to a heated public debate about the high level of racist violence and what to do about it. Anti-racist victim support groups, who received much media attention in the wake of the debate, reported that 28 right-wing extremist criminal acts are committed every day in eastern Germany alone, two of which are of a violent nature. Travel guides such as the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and Time Out warn visitors of racist violence in eastern Germany and even the US foreign ministry's webpage warns of racist attacks. But in the country itself, the high level of racism is met with denial by regional politicians and the judiciary alike (see Statewatch vol. 16 no 2).
When reporting the case of Ermyan M. and sketching an incomplete history of judicial denial of the racist nature of violent attacks against black people in a series of prominent court cases,
Statewatch reported that "It remains to be seen if institutional court racism will define this case, or if the racist motivation of the attack will be reflected in the judgement". Now, almost one year later, the trial of two suspects, whose DNA was found at the scene of the crime and whose voices had been identified by several witnesses from a recording made with a mobile phone just before the attack, has started. The indictment, however, does not mention racist motives because the defendants, Thomas M. and Bjorrn L., do not hold a membership card of a right-wing organisation; therefore, the police and prosecution are unable to find the attack racist. The fact that the two shouted "dirty old nigger" at the victim before kicking him in the face, or the fact that CDs of right-wing bands were found in Bjorrn L.'s car, are not considered sufficient evidence for Germany's criminal prosecution to identify the attack as racially motivated.
On 10 January, the trial against the suspects will begin in the regional court of Potsdam. Sixty two witnesses will appear, one of the first to be heard will be the victim himself. Bjorrn L. is accused of severe bodily harm (Ermyan suffered severe head injuries and broken ribs and spent weeks in a coma) while Thomas M. faces charges of "failure to render assistance" because he did not help the victim but ran away when a passing taxi driver discovered the two perpetrators bending over Ermyan. Both suspects deny the allegations and claim to have been at home on the night of the attack.
Suddeutsche Zeitung 3.1.07, Jungle World 24.5.06