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Defendant Rinor Z. in the Hanover Regional Court: "He feared for his life, he was panicked."
Photo: Ole Spata / dpa
The story of Rinor Z. begins in Kosovo and leads over a traffic light in downtown Hanover to room 127 of the regional court.
There the 33-year-old wants to clean the table this Friday.
The public prosecutor's office is certain: On June 3rd, around 1.30 p.m., a fatal encounter will take place at the Arndtstrasse / Herschelstrasse traffic lights: Rinor Z. in his white Mercedes and Armin N. in his black Porsche Cayenne stop at a red light.
The passenger from the Porsche, 51-year-old M., gets out and hits the Mercedes windshield several times with a wooden slat.
N. bleeds to death on site
Rinor Z. draws a weapon, shoots through the closed driver's window, but misses the attacker. He drops the wooden slat, takes flight, Z. shoots again, gets out, aims over the roof of his car at Armin N., the driver of the Porsche, who is still behind the wheel. Z. shoots and fatally hits N. through the open side window. The shooter runs away, goes into hiding and faces the police four days later. He is charged with attempted and completed manslaughter.
An experience that left Z. traumatized in the long term is part of his résumé, says his defense attorney Yana Tchelpanova.
He was born in 1988 in a village in Kosovo that the Serbian army shot at with tanks during the war.
A grenade destroyed his parents' house, his younger brother was killed, he himself was injured and treated without anesthesia.
"The images pop up in his head from time to time," says Tchelpanova.
Although the family was looked after by psychologists from the EU and the US Army, he suffered from a "pronounced post-traumatic stress disorder".
"Threatening situation"
Z. regrets the death of Armin N., but he found himself in a "threatening situation" on June 3rd, says the lawyer, speaking of an "unscrupulous, martial demeanor" displayed by co-driver M. have.
Z. and M. have known each other for eight years, both working in the "construction industry".
M. has arranged accommodation for workers who organize Z.
Years ago, however, there was a dispute that Z. subsequently withdrew his people from a construction site in Hamburg at short notice.
After that, they "avoided each other".
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Until last October.
At that time, the two men met in a parking lot, as the defense attorney argues.
There were fistfights.
Since then, Z. has been "massively threatened."
He was afraid - for himself, his wife, his little daughter.
»M.
had a lot of power and prestige in the milieu. "
Z. had therefore sent intermediaries to M. asking for forgiveness, but everything was "categorically" rejected.
Accompanied by the note that Z. should be careful.
He was "so intimidated" that he hardly ever left his house in Langenhagen or only with someone else;
he slept badly and installed a surveillance camera on the house.
An acquaintance got him a weapon, but he also "purposefully stirred up fear".
"Get out!
I'll kill you!"
On that June 3rd, Rinor Z. saw his opponent with Armin N. in his Porsche from a kebab shop.
He hurried to his car on foot to run away.
On the way to the market hall, where he wanted to pick up his wife, he calmed down and checked his cell phone at the red light when the first blow with the wooden slat startled him.
M. yelled: "Get out!
I'll kill you! ”He tried to open the driver's door; the automatic locking system saved Z.
"His whole body was trembling," said his defense attorney, "and he was scared to death."
In this "psychological borderline situation" Z. reached for the weapon in his shoulder bag and shot.
"He feared for his life, he was panicked."
Z. got out and saw other people who belonged to M.
Then Armin N. took up a gun.
"A controlled, targeted approach was not possible," says the lawyer.
Z. could not remember the shots.
The experiences from Kosovo and the threat of the previous months "triggered" him.
"He was led by sheer fear for his life."
The accused looks relieved after the lecture.
In front of him, next to his lawyer, there are two defense lawyers: the lawyers Manfred Koch and Fritz Willig, also known as the former president of the Hannover 96 soccer club. Z. was afraid of not being protected enough by the police, Willig exclaims.
“He turned himself in!
He never intended to run away! "
Legal conscience
The presiding judge Stefan Joseph nods benevolently and asks whether Z. will answer questions.
He will, replies attorney Koch, but not from the co-plaintiffs.
An affront for attorney Matthias Waldraff, who represents M. as a joint plaintiff: “Mr. Koch, you defended Armin N. three years ago.
You had the full confidence of the N. family and my client - and above all that of Armin N. Today you are defending the man who shot your client at the time. "Waldraff speaks while standing, the microphone switched on.
He is clearly beside himself.
The N. family was "dismayed, affected, horrified".
Koch's approach is "disturbing," says Waldraff.
After all, there is “a lawyer's conscience”.
"I can only ask you to resign from this mandate."
"That you are not ashamed!"
Koch frantically presses the button on his microphone and replies: “With all the theatrical conviction: I am a criminal defense attorney.
Everyone has the right to a fair trial. ”At that time, Armin N. shot a man himself because he was in a“ predicament ”.
"It was self-defense." The public prosecutor saw it that way at the time and closed the investigation.
Lawyer Steffen Stern was the last to speak on that day.
He represented Armin N. three years ago - together with Koch.
He has remained the lawyer for the N. family and criticizes that Z. does not want to answer the co-plaintiffs' questions: “That is, the family that you represent and who have entrusted you with internal family matters.
That you are not ashamed! "
For the time being, this does not change the defendant's attitude.
On January 10, Z. wants to answer the questions of the court, the public prosecutor's office and the expert.