#285: Pro-Palestinian protest cleared, Autobahn beer truck crash, Tempelhof construction moratorium turns 10
We asked prosecutors why shooting suspects were released — and they answered
Hey 20 Percent!
Tuesday we reported on a (rare) shooting in Görlitzer Park and many in the comments as well as on Twitter were annoyed that the two suspects were released shortly after being arrested — pretty common in Deutschland but not so where many of us come from.
A perfect moment to learn something about our adopted country.
The main reason suspects remain in custody after being arrested, according to spokesperson Sebastian Büchner in the Berlin prosecutors office, is in what’s called Untersuchhungshaft (investigative custody). The purpose of Untersuchungshaft is to ensure the suspect(s) don’t destroy evidence or potentially influence witnesses.
It’s also to ensure a suspect will appear at trial — if they have stable living conditions in Berlin it’s unlikely, Büchner wrote in an email, they’d give that up to flee and avoid a conviction. Prosecutors also consider whether a suspect has connections abroad, increasing the flight risk. And they also have to be confident the suspect is in fact the culprit.
The Görlitzer case also had a few additional circumstances: “… the age of the suspects, their reduced culpability because they were likely under the influence of drugs as well as their confirmed address supported the belief that they would not avoid a trial,” Büchner wrote.
Interior senator Iris Spranger (SPD) gave one additional detail in the Berlin parliament Thursday — both the suspects and the victim were (are?) drug dealers and the robbery was part of a fight, according to the Morgenpost (paywall).
So they were released pending trial.
We’ll let you know how it all turns out.
Have a good weekend!
Andrew
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Homer Simpson on the Autobahn?
A beer truck crashed late Thursday on the A10 northwest of Berlin, spilling crates of beer into the nearby forest, according to RBB24. A picture behind that link shows that, tragically, not as much of the foamy stuff survived as one would have hoped. The 37-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and taken to hospital for treatment. He had blood alcohol of .309% — 0.05% is the legal limit. The A10 was closed temporarily Friday so cleanup workers could do a job they’ll be talking about for decades.
Pro-Palestinian protest cleared
The Polizei Thursday ended a pro-Palestinian sit-in at Humboldt University after Berlin politicians were irked that HU president Julia von Blumenthal opted to tolerate the protest, according to Tagesspiegel. 169 protestors were arrested and then escorted — with varying levels of police help — from a building on campus after moving in Wednesday. However, the police are only pressing charges against 25 people. Von Blumenthal had hoped to encourage the protestors to leave during discussions but Berlin mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and science senator Ina Czyborra (SPD) had other ideas and ordered the building to be cleared.
Sure, you don’t need to learn German to live in Berlin…
…but wouldn’t it feel damn good to master your der-die-das once and for all? Get serious about learning German at the Berlin-based online course, Smarter German. Sign up for a free trial today.
Woman, daughter hit by train at central station
Rush hour traffic through Hauptbahnhof was partially halted Wednesday evening after a woman and her four-year-old daughter were hit by an ICE, according to Tagesspiegel. The woman later died in hospital and her daughter remains in critical condition after being airlifted to hospital. Police are treating the incident as a suicide — German media (including 20 Percent) only report on suspected suicides when there’s a greater public interest. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, help is available here in English.
Factoid
Berlin voters 10 years ago Saturday rejected any construction on the site of the former Tempelhof airport (750k of the 1.1m who voted were against construction), opting instead to keep the defunct air harbor a giant park. The vote was a non-binding test but then-mayor Klaus Wowereit (SPD) abandoned his dreams of building on the field: “We said before the vote we’d respect the voters’ wishes.” Acting as if the 2014 Berlin is the same city we now live in is naive, at best. Our current government wants to again build on the edges of the now-park. They claim they’ll first ask voters for permission. We’ll see.
Ah thanks for clearing that up about the shooting. I thought they'd been released for good! Like, tchuuus! Don't shoot anyone else!
Small correction: the legal blood alcohol limit is 0.5 “per mille” (“Promille” in German), or 0.05%. At 0.5%, you’re very much in alcohol poisoning territory :)