Europe’s most famous rocker is pretty angry.
Kuno Kruse: “Did you get into debt in Spain or not?”
Frank Hanebuth: “I have not been guilty of anything, many others feel the same way.”
Frank Hanebuth spent two years in custody on Mallorca. Arrested in the Casablanca police operation. The accusation: The Hells Angel is the boss of a criminal organization. But to date no charges have been filed. The investigators cannot produce anything that will satisfy the prosecutor.
Kuno Kruse: “Of course we would have preferred to visit Frank Hanebuth in Hanover, but he is not allowed to leave Spain. He’s out on bail and he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll have to stay here.” .
We flew to Mallorca to talk to him himself. He wanted to build a new life for himself here. Then everything turned out differently.
Kuno Kruse: “Two years in prison, how do you feel?”
Frank Hanebuth: “Well, we are men, we have to go through it. This is not a big problem for us. That doesn’t impress us either. But the family is affected. And it always depends on why you are sitting. Rightly or wrongly.”
We at Stern worked through the files with several colleagues to find out what he was accused of. And as unbelievable as it sounds, there are many intercepted phone calls, but no crime.
Hanebuth has been out since July but has to report to the police every day. A life on Mallorca, you might think there are worse things.
Frank Hanebuth: “Yes, well, everything is beautiful here. I always say I’m trapped here in paradise. Of course you are free, but you are not allowed to leave the country. My environment, all my friends, my family, everything is in Germany. And it is completely incomprehensible why we are not allowed to leave the country. We are EU citizens. Have paid deposit. I have never shied away from anything in my life and certainly not from this procedure, certainly not.”
Hanebuth’s defense attorney Gonzalo Boye is a famous human rights lawyer. In July he lodged a detention complaint. That’s why I spoke to him in Madrid in the summer.
Gonzalo Boye: “My concern is that he served two years in prison because he is Frank Hanebuth. They tried to find action and find people who would say something against Mr. Hanebuth. They talk about Mr. Hanebuth and how bad Mr. Hanebuth is, but they don’t talk about what Mr. Hanebuth did. But still, they kept him in pre-trial detention, in solitary confinement, for two years.”
One might ask why this lawyer in particular is committed to a German rocker.
Gonzalo Boye: “Here in Spain I have the impression that pre-trial detention is not that important, but of course it is a human right. The right to freedom is a human right.”
Back on the island. In the wake of Hanebuth’s arrest, 57 other people were accused.
Kuno Kruse: “How many of the 57 suspects are actually members of the Hells Angels?”
Frank Hanebuth: “Four.”
Kuno Kruse: “Only four?”
Frank Hanebuth: “Yes.”
Kuno Kruse: “And who are all the other people?”
Frank Hanebuth: “No idea. Some of them are acquaintances, most of them I don’t know at all. But people have thrown together what doesn’t belong together.”
He took the arrest calmly.
Frank Hanebuth: “When I was arrested, I was firmly convinced that this would resolve itself in a short time. And I think, well, it might take a week or two and then the magic will be over. Apparently it’s now the case that a Hells Angel can be blamed for anything, without evidence, without any facts. And well, we just have to endure that. That’s so.”
Kuno Kruse: “Did you feel let down?”
Frank Hanebuth: “From who?”
Kuno Kruse: “Are we saying about the German police and justice system?”
Frank Hanebuth: “I don’t expect anything from them!”
Nevertheless, Hanebuth wants to return to Germany.
Frank Hanebuth: “Of course I go back to my people, to my environment. To my family, of course. And that’s why there’s no question in my mind whether we’re going back to Hanover.”
This can still take some time. In Spain the justice system is taking its time.