Around five months after tearing down an Israeli flag in front of Augsburg City Hall, an 18-year-old was sentenced to a youth prison sentence. The young Syrian was given a two-week arrest by the Augsburg district court on Thursday. He must take part in several discussions on the subject of anti-Semitism with a representative of the Jewish community and pay 200 euros to the Jewish Museum in Augsburg. The defendant made a full confession.
The refugee was convicted of violating the flag and sovereign rights of foreign states and damaging property. The prison sentence was compensated by the fact that he was in custody for two weeks. The verdict became final immediately.
On October 13, the 18-year-old tore down the Israel flag from the mast in front of numerous people on the town hall square, which had been hoisted there after the Hamas attack in solidarity with the attacked country. He then tried to set the flag on fire with a lighter. A courageous passerby stepped in and prevented the burning. The crime attracted attention nationwide and beyond Germany’s borders after the defendant distributed a video of the crime on a social network.
He said in court that he wanted to attract attention with the crime and the video on the portal. “I just wanted to be famous.” The young man insisted that he had not thought about the fact that his actions were forbidden. The act also had no political background.
However, youth judge Fabian Espenschied didn’t completely buy it and saw anti-Semitic motivation. “You don’t just climb flagpoles.” It is not normal anywhere in the world to tear down the flags of other countries. “Morally, this is at the lowest level,” emphasized the judge. The public prosecutor had previously stated that the crime had unsettled many people beyond the borders of Augsburg. The published video stirs up hatred against Israel and Jews in general. “It’s an attack on our values,” she said.
A helper of the 18-year-old who recorded the video was sentenced to a similar punishment in January. A few days after the crime, another Israeli flag was torn down in front of the town hall. In this case, the two perpetrators are still unknown to this day.