I have already seen a number of stars in court. To this day I still wonder whether there is a celebrity bonus or a celebrity penalty. Stars can often afford better lawyers and have press people. On the other hand, a large public learns things in a trial that are rightly private. This week, Kida Khodr Ramadan brought a special burden to room 3115 of the Tiergarten District Court. The 47-year-old became famous for playing a Berlin clan boss who flouts the law at every opportunity. He did this so impressively in the series “4 Blocks” that even Jogi Löw wrote to him saying that he and the German team were huge fans of Ramadan. This actor of a career criminal now has to go to court because he himself broke the law.
At first glance, Ramadan does little to distract from his character. He comes into the hall wearing a gray suit, sunglasses and a cap, hisses to the press people “My lawyer will talk to you” and shows the middle finger. However, the crimes he is accused of are almost banal. Ramadan drove a car four times without a license.
“Describe a little bit of the background,” says the magistrate after he has had a few chairs fetched for the many spectators. Ramadan says that there were emergencies in family or friends where there was no time to call a taxi. Once he was on a shoot and people from an international production wanted to meet him, “that was important for my future.” He quickly got into a film company car. “I did complete shit.” He particularly regrets that he once took advantage of his fame to persuade a colleague to let him use a car-sharing car.
Even the public prosecutor, as he says, has seen worse cases; he is usually responsible for speeders. “No one should go to prison for such a trivial matter,” says the actor’s defense attorney. However, Ramadan has a criminal record because he had previously driven without a license 33 times. Ramadan tells the judge that he can’t just take public transport; as soon as he gets on a bus or the subway, he will be recognized and besieged. He points to the packed auditorium. “If a Kreuzberg boy were accused here, no one would be there.” The judge sounds almost pitiful when he sentences Ramadan to ten months in prison without parole. The judgment is not final.
The public prosecutor asks why he didn’t actually apply for his driver’s license. The ban expired long ago. Ramadan says he immediately submitted it to the authorities, but even after a year and a half they said the matter was under review and processing would take time. At least in this respect, a celebrity is no different than most Berliners.
At this point, Verena Mayer and Ronen Steinke write weekly about their experiences at German courts.
(Photo: Bernd Schifferdecker (illustration))