Recep O. is tense. He kneads his hands, pushes his chair all the way to the bulletproof glass and listens in the hall 500 of the district court Berlin concentrated the words of his defender. Unlike the majority of his co-defendants, the 30-year-old does not seem to consider a plea by his lawyer to be superfluous. Recep O. and nine other men are charged with murder. Among the defendants is the Berlin Hells Angels President Kadir Padir. For almost five years, they have had to answer to the 15th Grand Penal Chamber.
Recep O. confessed to shooting 26-year-old Tahir Özbek in the Wettcafé "Expekt" in Berlin-Reinickendorf in January 2014. The prosecutor's office assumes murder for revenge. Hells Angels boss Padir is said to have commissioned him, Recep O. have executed him along with other defendants.
The prosecutor's office last week demanded a life sentence for Recep O and six co-defendants. Kadir Padir was also convicted of incitement to murder to the maximum penalty. Only Kassra Z., called the Persian, is to receive as a witness only ten years. The tenth defendant was to be convicted only for violating the weapons law, not for murder.
There is a video of the act, taken by a surveillance camera. Prosecutor Christian Fröhlich spoke in his plea of "the power of images". These showed, therefore, how a total of 13 partially masked men "following a choreography" stormed into a back room in a row, where Recep O. immediately shot at Tahir Özbek. The choreography shows that the attackers had followed a plan that had been set before. Recep O. shot eight times at Tahir Ozbek. Six shots hit him deadly.
Defender Detlef Kolloge contradicts this Thursday, the 298th day of the trial, several times that "power of images". The video by no means proves that it had been commissioned to assassinate Tahir Ozbek. It also does not show what happened before the store. There could be no question of community murder, at most Recep O. was to be convicted of manslaughter for a time-limited imprisonment.
The defender describes another version
Recep O. had stated that they had stood around in front of the "Expekt" initially rat-and thus also haphazard. Then Kadir Padir's brother, Ersoy, had handed him a weapon to look after him. "You are going ahead, you are responsible for my life now," he is supposed to have said.
It was about intimidating Tahir Özbek, showing his presence. It was not about killing him. Then the situation got out of control. Recep O. was "frightened" because he thought he had perceived a movement of the victim. "I got scared, because I heard that he should have a gun, and then I fired the shots," quotes the defender Recep O. The video does not refute this presentation, he says, since it does not start the firing show. "If and how the victim has moved, you do not see."
Nor can there be talk of a choreography that betrays a preconceived plan. The men were only in the single file went into the back room, because it would not have been spatially possible otherwise. The movement was not due to a plan, but the narrowness of the room.
Should the court nevertheless condemn Recep O. for murder, his sentence should also be mitigated under the leniency program. Because not only Kassra Z., also Recep O. contributed to the clarification, says defender Kolloge. Therefore, a life imprisonment should be foreseen.
One defender criticizes the others
Steffen Tzschoppe, defender of Kassra Z., then begins his plea with an affront to his defending colleagues. It was an "indictment" that the defenders of Kadir Padir and six other defendants have renounced a plea. In a joint statement, they instead appealed to the court to "come to their senses." A classic plea they considered pointless, because the judges had long since committed to a conviction for murder.
Thus, so Tzschoppe, the defenders would have missed the opportunity, if not to affect the professional judges, then at least to the jury. He is now catching up with this attempt. Tzschoppe appeals to the aldermen not to convict anyone of murder if they doubt whether anyone actually knew that Tahir Ozbek was dying. He himself was convinced that by no means all the defendants were aware of any murder plans. "Mr. Z. does not deserve a conviction for murder in any case."
In the video: Tahir Özbek's mother speaks
MIRROR TV
The defense requests that Ms. Z. be sentenced to a mild sentence for causing serious personal injury and death. After more than five years in custody, the arrest warrant should be set aside and Z. released. If the court should condemn him for murder, his sentence should be significantly mitigated according to the leniency program. The ten years required by the prosecutor are too much. Kassra Z.'s extensive information provided not only information but also help with prevention, and helped prevent further crimes.
He is considered a traitor in the rock scene
Kassra Z. has been in the witness protection program since 2014. He is considered a traitor in the rock scene. Even his lawyer does not know in which penal institution "the Persian" is. Due to the special vulnerability, he was in solitary confinement for five years. This is accompanied by a special burden that the court has to take into account, says Tzschoppe. "It's your own fault for everything," exclaims a man in the audience indignant towards the dock.
Kassra Z. has not been popular. Even in freedom, he would have to be further protected, emphasizes his lawyer. At the same time, his release would motivate others to work with the investigators. The betrayal of danger to life must be worthwhile.
On September 30, the defendants have opportunity for their last word. A date for the verdict has not yet been determined. It is expected to fall on the 1st or 2nd of October.
Also read: Did policemen make the murder happen, in order to better identify in the rocker milieu afterwards? An internal investigator says.
