At the end of the verdict, the presiding judge Anja Quendt personally addressed the defendant again: “You describe yourself as a good father. Anyone who instrumentalizes a child for such purposes does not deserve such a label.” With these words, the two-month-long trial involving a burnt-out apartment, a custody dispute and the accusation of attempted murder ends before the Dresden regional court: Chokri A. is charged with particularly serious crimes Arson and false suspicion resulting in deprivation of liberty, sentenced to six years and ten months in prison.
On the morning of November 16, 2023, an apartment in the middle of Dresden is on fire. 25-year-old Chokri A is standing on the third floor balcony. There is a handcuff on his left hand that is connected to a bed frame. He desperately calls for help. He maneuvers the frame over the parapet, holds on to the lightning rod with his right hand and escapes to the balcony below. When he made an emergency call to the police, Chokri A. reported that it was Nancy S., his former girlfriend and mother of his daughter, who attacked him with pepper spray and a knife and ultimately put him in this situation.
The drug-addicted and unreliable woman had worse cards from the start
In fact, the 19-year-old, homeless and drug-addicted woman was arrested on the same day for attempted murder. But two weeks later she is released again. The public prosecutor’s office doubts that they were the perpetrators: the time window for the crime described by the defendant is too small. In addition, no DNA traces were found that incriminate Nancy S. Instead, there are witnesses who exonerate her. Chokri A. also has a strong motive for his crime: he wants sole custody of their child.
Arson trials are always circumstantial trials, explains the presiding judge in her verdict. To find the truth, you have to puzzle together many circumstances, clues and events. In this specific case, only two people could have started the fire, namely Chokri A. and his ex-girlfriend Nancy S. The drug addict, petty criminal, lying and unreliable woman had worse cards from the start. But the defendant’s tactic of blaming her for the crime using this reason did not work in court.
The judges looked closely at the history of the unlikely couple. The two met at the end of 2021. Nancy S. was six months pregnant, the child’s father was in prison, and she herself was addicted to crystal meth. Chokri A. looked after her and supported her during the birth of her son. Nancy S. managed to get clean. This was a completely new experience for the young woman and her relatives. They perceived Chokri A. as someone who behaved respectfully towards them. For Nancy S. he was her closest confidant.
Chokri A. not only didn’t tell them about his two children in Tunisia
But Chokri A. kept a lot of things secret from them, not just his two children in Tunisia. But also that he is not a poor refugee and comes from a wealthy family. He completed his high school diploma at a private school and completed training as a carpenter. He then traveled to more than two dozen countries. He went to Germany in April 2021, but was threatened with deportation as early as July 2021. It should take place once he has obtained his replacement identification documents.
Chokri A. learned that he could stay in Germany for family reasons. This also includes fatherhood that is actively lived. According to the court, he followed a clear plan in his relationship with Nancy S. Two months after the birth of her son, the young woman became pregnant again, this time by Chokri A. Their daughter was born in December 2022. At that time, Nancy S. was in a mother-child home where she was supposed to stay for a few more months. But the young mother no longer wanted to be bullied by the carers. She left the home and her son and returned to the drug world.
Chokri A. now looked after his daughter alone and moved into a small apartment with her. It was supposed to be an interim solution until Nancy S. was able to look after her two children. In order to still receive the right to remain in Germany, Chokri A., according to the judges, did a lot to alienate his daughter from her mother and to denounce Nancy S. to the youth welfare office. When he found out that she should still get her own apartment so that she could live there with her two children – and with the support of a family helper – he made the decision to do what he did.
His behavior after Nancy S.’s release also speaks for this: instead of being afraid of the alleged murderer, he resumed his relationship with her. When he was arrested on February 6, 2024, Nancy S. was in his apartment.