As of: March 1, 2024, 10:51 a.m
By: Julia Hanigk
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Christian B., the murder suspect in the Maddie case, is charged in Braunschweig with five other serious crimes in Portugal.
Now the process continues.
Braunschweig – The trial for five sexual offenses in Portugal against the criminal Christian B., who has been convicted several times, will continue this Friday (March 1st).
The Braunschweig public prosecutor's office charged him in October 2022.
Now the 47-year-old German has to appear at the Braunschweig regional court - he is being tried on three counts of rape and two cases of sexual abuse of children.
The defendant is also the main suspect in the missing Maddie McCann case
The proceedings are arousing great interest because B. is suspected of murder in the case of Madeleine McCann, known as Maddie, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007.
However, the complex surrounding the then three-year-old girl from Great Britain is not the subject of the proceedings.
New allegations and speculations continue to come to light in the media.
For example, a man accused Christian B. of planning a child abduction before Maddie's disappearance.
There also appears to be new incriminating evidence at the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office.
It could help solve the puzzle.
Christian B. before the Braunschweig regional court.
© Noah Wedel/IMAGO
The cases currently being heard in Braunschweig
In the current trial, Christian B. is specifically accused of raping an unknown 70 to 80 year old woman in the bedroom of her Portuguese holiday apartment between 2000 and 2006 and filming it.
During the same period, he is said to have tied an unknown young woman, aged at least 14, to a wooden post in his apartment at the time, beat her and forced her to perform oral sex.
In 2004, Christian B. is also said to have brutally raped a 20-year-old Irish woman several times in Praia da Rocha.
She will be heard as a witness during the trial.
In 2007 and 2017, the defendant is said to have masturbated in front of a ten-year-old and an eleven-year-old girl.
From the defense's perspective, this could just be pseudo-memories.
Charges not yet in focus – Christian B. remains silent
These current allegations are being heard in Braunschweig because the defendant had his last German residence there.
So far, however, other reports have characterized the days of the hearing: On the first day, the trial was canceled because an application was filed against a potentially biased female lay judge.
After the person was replaced, the trial could continue on the second day.
Numerous applications for evidence were presented by the defense, which insisted on an acquittal.
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Defense attorney Fülscher criticized the fact that Christian B. has been under “continuous global media fire” since June 2020.
He complained that the results of the investigation had not been presented to the defense in the Maddie case and spoke of “media prejudgment”.
“We are not negotiating the most famous missing person case of the post-war period here,” the lawyer from Kiel also emphasized.
The court is currently only dealing with the five other allegations.
Meanwhile, the defendant himself makes use of his right to remain silent.
On the third day of the trial, the defense will present further evidence and the first witness will also be heard.
Christian B. has already been convicted of other sexual acts
The sex offender Christian B., who has already been convicted several times, is currently incarcerated in the Sehnde prison near Hanover.
At the end of 2019, he was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Braunschweig Regional Court for raping an elderly American woman in Portugal.
The lawyers even questioned the evidence on which this verdict was based.
(jh/dpa)