It was one of those press releases that the Berlin police issue several times a day. It was said in February 2022 that a dispute broke out on a tram after passengers had asked a young person about her “missing mouth and nose cover”. The 17-year-old was injured. The information arrived in the editorial offices between reports of a pedestrian being hit and a drunken stabbing. It was picked up in a couple of news stories and probably wouldn’t have garnered much attention. If only the victim hadn’t gone public himself.
In a video on Instagram, Dilan S. told how she experienced the incident. It was not just the other way around and it was she who pointed out to the other passengers to put on the mask that was still mandatory on the tram at the time. She was also racially abused and physically attacked by several adults. The video was ten minutes long and showed the young woman in a hospital bed. Dilan S. had to be treated medically after the attack, she reported pain, abdominal trauma, bruises. For Dilan S. it was clear: “I was beaten up yesterday because I’m a foreigner.”
The Berlin police later corrected their report
The video went viral, followed by a nationwide discussion about racist attacks and how common they had become. The number of politically motivated crimes only reached a new high again in 2021. Acts from the right are the greatest threat, as Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced in 2022 in view of the number of cases. The Berlin police later corrected their report, and the case has now ended up in court. On Thursday, three defendants were sentenced to prison terms of between six and eight months and another was fined.
The Tiergarten district court first had to sort out what had actually happened on that February evening. That was not so easy, says the judge in her verdict. On the one hand, because many things happened at the same time on the tram. On the other hand, because the public handling of the incident confused some witnesses. According to the judge, Dilan S. was on the tram when two women and a man got on. The three had celebrated a birthday and were accordingly drunk.
Especially Jennifer G., 34, was “what you call ‘aggro’,” said the judge. As a video from the tram shows, the three wore no masks and came very close to Dilan S. When the high school graduate asked the three to keep their distance, an argument broke out, then racist swear words were used. Dilan S. then got out, the group followed her. Outside, three other people got involved in the argument. Not to help Dilan S., though. “Out of a group dynamic,” several adults had an effect on the young people, as the prosecutor put it in his plea. “An xenophobic attitude has come to light.” Dilan S. was insulted, felt kicks and punches, and his hair was pulled.
Dilan S. no longer feels safe in Berlin
Again and again Jennifer G. was noticed. According to several witnesses, she was the most aggressive. She then received the highest prison sentence: eight months for dangerous bodily harm. The judge rated her racist failures as an aggravation of the sentence.
The accused showed up only sparsely for the court hearings. A 43-year-old man was present at the verdict and shook his head when he was fined for defamation. Dilan S., on the other hand, was always in the room, although the process, as she says, was “very exhausting” for her. The now 18-year-old is still suffering psychologically from the consequences of the crime. Mainly because nobody helped her. Until the incident, she was not afraid on the streets of Berlin. “Now I’m not safe here anymore.”