Enlarge image
Tram in Erfurt (symbol picture)
Photo: Martin Schutt / picture alliance / dpa / dpa-Zentralbild
A dispute over the mask requirement in an Erfurt tram has led to a physical attack.
A 19-year-old pointed out to another passenger that there was a mask requirement early on Saturday morning, as the police in the Thuringian capital announced.
The man then hit the 19-year-old in the face with his fist and also insulted him racially.
Another passenger reportedly also expressed racist insults against the young man who, according to the police, has an "Asian appearance".
The two attackers then left the tram and ran away in an unknown direction.
After a hint from the 19-year-old, the tram driver alerted the police, but they could not find the perpetrators.
The Erfurt police asked witnesses to the incident to report.
Four years and nine months in prison after racist attack
The attack is reminiscent of another case.
In the spring, a man hit and kicked a 17-year-old Syrian repeatedly in the face in an Erfurt tram and, according to the public prosecutor, insulted him “in the worst possible way”.
On October 26, a good six months after the attack, the accused was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
The district court in the Thuringian capital found the 41-year-old guilty of dangerous bodily harm and insult, among other things.
He also has to pay the co-plaintiff € 5,000.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded a higher prison sentence for the accused, the defense a significantly lower sentence.
feb / AFP
