A nun from the Lower Franconian monastery of Oberzell was acquitted on Thursday before the Würzburg district court of assisting in illegal residence. The 39-year-old Juliana Seelmann had granted church asylum to a Nigerian and the woman was not expelled from the monastery even after a negative hardship decision by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BaMF).
The judge justified the acquittal with a previous judgment of the Bavarian Supreme Court in Bamberg. According to this, food and accommodation alone do not constitute aid after a negative decision by the BaMF. In June 2021, Seelmann initially received a so-called warning with the reservation of punishment from the Würzburg district court and appealed against it. The public prosecutor’s office initially appealed, but withdrew it during the trial on Thursday. Sister Juliana received the Würzburg Peace Prize last year for her commitment.