Iraqis are said to have attacked roommates and home staff with knives, spatulas and ladle

Created: 07/12/2022, 20:23

By: Nikolas Pelke

A 33-year-old Iraqi has had to answer charges of attempted manslaughter in the Nuremberg-Fuerth district court since Tuesday.

© Nikolas Pelke

A 33-year-old asylum seeker from Iraq is said to have not only attacked roommates but also the staff in several refugee shelters with knives.

Nuremberg – The accused entered the courtroom in Nuremberg in shackles on Tuesday at 9 a.m. sharp.

At first the 33-year-old asylum seeker from Iraq seems almost relaxed despite the chains on his legs.

After the indictment was read, however, the mood changed and the unmarried hairdresser from Baghdad quickly got angry.

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Trial in Nuremberg: the accused protests innocence and swears by God

He swears "to God" that he is innocent.

The first victim in the refugee accommodation in the district of Schwandorf injured himself with a knife.

"I just wanted to help him," said the accused on Tuesday before the district court in Nuremberg-Fürth.

In the second case, the employees of the asylum seekers' home would have rudely gotten him out of bed early in the morning.

The employees were much taller than him, said the Iraqi and jumped up from the dock, gesticulating wildly as if to prove it.

The judges had their hands full trying to keep the hairdresser's obviously abundant temperament in check with cajoling.

There is a lot at stake for the defendant.

The public prosecutor's office accuses the 33-year-old Iraqi of attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm.

In the first case, the accused "only" wanted to have a clarifying conversation with the later victim.

Because the injured party was obviously not interested in verbal peace negotiations, the accused is said to have grabbed a carpet knife and inflicted a heavily bleeding wound on the left side of the face of the roommate.

Attack on home staff with knife, ladle and spatula

After that, the accused had to pack his bags and move to another accommodation in the neighboring district of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz.

There he is said to have picked up the knife again two months later and this time even attacked the two directors of the home and the caretaker.

According to the indictment, it was only by joining forces that worse things could have been prevented in the new attack.

After the knife fell to the ground, the perpetrator is said to have hit out with a ladle.

The accused is said to have even used a harmless spatula as a weapon.

Finally, he is said to have thrown a chair in the direction of the opponent.

Here, too, the accused is firmly convinced that he himself is a victim and not a perpetrator.

The staff at the asylum center beat him for no reason early in the morning without knocking politely on the door.

He just resisted it.

In general, the employees are much taller than him.

He also didn't have a knife in his hand at all.

He "just" wanted to have another room in the accommodation in Parsberg.

"I've been moved from one home to the other for five years," the accused complained in tears, emphasizing that he only wanted to go back home to Iraq.

Judgment should be made before the summer holidays

A total of six days of trial are scheduled for the trial of the 33-year-old accused from Baghdad.

The verdict before the district court of Nuremberg-Fürth is to be spoken at the end of July.