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Riots at the Cologne away game in Nice
Photo: IMAGO/Norbert Scanella / IMAGO/PanoramiC
A good four months after the riots in Nice, a fan of Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln has been sentenced to 18 months in prison without probation for serious breach of the peace and dangerous bodily harm.
In her verdict before the district court of Bergisch Gladbach, the judge attested to the 36-year-old and confessed accused "credible remorse", but expressed doubts about his assertion that he had "detached himself from the scene".
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Already 113 days in custody
The court fell just short of prosecutors' demand, which had called for a one-year, nine-month prison sentence without parole.
The many years of membership in the scene and the previous convictions of the scaffolder from Bergisch Gladbach had a negative effect on the sentence.
On various videos shown in court, the family man, who has been in custody for the past 113 days, was seen in a physical altercation with an opposing fan in the stands of the Nice stadium.
Before the Conference League game on September 8, 2022 in the southern French city, there were serious riots between supporters of Cologne and OGC Nice.
As a result, the game started almost an hour late.
“What happened yesterday will stay with me for a very long time.
That was just sheer violence," said FC coach Steffen Baumgart the day after the riots that left over 40 injured, including nine police officers.
100,000 euros fine for 1. FC Köln
Around four weeks later, the police searched the houses and apartments of 16 suspects in Cologne, Hürth, Pulheim and Bergisch Gladbach and executed five arrest warrants.
In the run-up to the raid, the police and public prosecutor's office evaluated around 900 video and photo files from FC supporters.
There were also 300 verbal references to suspects.
The European football association Uefa had imposed penalties on both clubs.
FC had to pay a fine of 100,000 euros and were not allowed to sell tickets for the other away games in the Conference League in Belgrade and at 1. FC Slovácko.
The trial in Bergisch Gladbach was the start of the legal aftermath.
On January 31, two other allegedly involved rioters are on trial in Cologne.
They are accused, among other things, of dangerous bodily harm and a particularly serious case of breach of the peace.
mfu/dpa