“Police scandal: Syrian kills 30-year-old – then police persecute the
victim’s father,” translated from “Polizei-Skandal: Syrer tötet
30-Jährigen – dann verfolgt Polizei Vater des Opfers,” by Göran
Schattauer, Focus, April 15, 2021 (thanks to Medforth):
In 2017, a young Syrian killed the son of Karsten Hempel
(56) in Saxony-Anhalt. After the perpetrator was sentenced to probation,
the police prosecuted the victim’s father for alleged plans for
revenge. According to FOCUS-Online research, the investigators used
illegal methods. Hempel calls for clarification.
A new police scandal is looming in Saxony-Anhalt. According to
research by FOCUS Online, the Dessau-Roßlau police inspection tried to
protect a convicted violent criminal from Syria and took illegal
measures against a German father whose son had been killed by the
Syrian. Police suspect that the victim’s father has plans to revenge against Syrians
Specifically, it is about a “threat approach” to the 56-year-old
Karsten Hempel from Wittenberg. The resource is usually used by
right-wing extremists, Islamists or hooligans in order to dissuade them
from potential acts of violence at an early stage. Hempel’s case was
about alleged plans for revenge against the now 21-year-old Syrian Sabri
H.
Background: On September 29, 2017, the then-17-year-old Sabri H. had
an argument with Hempel’s son Marcus, right in front of a shopping
center in Wittenberg. Sabri H. struck him with his fist, the 30-year-old
victim fell and died a little later from his head injuries. The wound
on the lower jaw was caused by a blow that was “carried out with
considerable force,” noted the forensic doctors in the autopsy report.
Verdict against Sabri H .: two years probation. Sabri H. was convicted for the brutal act in March 2020. Not for
murder, not for manslaughter, but for “bodily harm resulting in death.”
Two years probation, plus 120 hours of work – the juvenile criminal
chamber at the Magdeburg District Court considered this to be
appropriate. So Sabri H. stayed at large. And he still is today.
At the end of 2020, the police said they had verbally received an
informant’s tip that Karsten Hempel wanted to take revenge for the death
of his son and wanted to do violence to Sabri H. To this day, the
father vehemently denies the alleged plans. “Dangerous speech”: Police officers came straight into the office
Nevertheless, two criminal investigators visited him in December 2020
at his place of work and held a “threat approach.” Hempel, who works as
a construction manager, found himself pushed into the role of a
criminal. His colleagues witnessed the strange situation, even if the
actual conversation took place in a separate room.
The aim of the visit was to “prevent disruptions to public security
and order,” said the police. Hempel should refrain from “commissioning
or inciting persons” to “harm Sabri H.’s health or threaten him.” He,
too, should refrain from acts of revenge. If he did, he was threatened
with “further security measures,” including imprisonment. Karsten Hempel: Memories of gloomy GDR times
Hempel couldn’t believe his ears and was reminded of the darkest
conditions of the GDR (East Germany). “I thought the Stasi method had
ended 30 years ago,” he told officials. It was common practice in the
East that the state reacted to unfounded denunciations from citizens and
thus plunged innocent people into misfortune. But in a democratic
constitutional state? When asked who the whistleblower was, Hempel
received no answer.
However, the 56-year-old had suspicions. He assumed that the “tip”
came from the circle of the convicted violent criminal Sabri H. – or
even from the Syrian himself. Because it is true that father Hempel
sought contact with Sabri H. in the aftermath of the criminal
proceedings in order to inform him that he intended to have him
prosecuted under civil law – with success. Civil lawsuit against Sabri H .: More than 25,000 euros for father
A civil chamber of the Dessau-Roßlau regional court sentenced Sabri
H. in July 2020 to reimburse Hempel for all damage he suffered “from the
killing of his son.” Specifically, the court awarded him 20,000 euros
for survivors’ benefits and 5300 euros for legal fees. The sums
stipulated in the default judgment are “enforceable” according to the
court.
Karsten Hempel’s attempt to have the money due to him seized failed.
At the beginning of December 2020, Sabri H. claimed to a bailiff that he
had no savings, furniture or other valuables.
He also stated that he did not live at his regular registered
address, but with a friend’s family. According to the probation order,
he would have had to report this “move” to the Magdeburg district court,
which he had not done. Karsten Hempel’s lawyer then asked the public
prosecutor to investigate a possible violation of the probation
conditions.
Hempel filed a criminal complaint for “false suspicion” It is obvious that Sabri H. felt disturbed by Karsten Hempel’s
legitimate research. The fact is: at some point the State Criminal
Police Office of Saxony-Anhalt received the information that father
Hempel supposedly wanted to take violent revenge on the Syrian.
Immediately afterwards there was the “threat approach.”
Hempel did not want to accept the unfounded and from his point of
view illegal police measure. He lodged an objection and filed a criminal
complaint against unknown persons – for “false suspicion, defamation
and pretending to be a criminal offense.” Police admit mistake: measure was “illegal”
According to information from FOCUS Online, the father’s fight was
worth it: the police had to officially admit the mistake. By decision of
March 1, 2021, the Dessau-Roßlau police station informed Karsten Hempel
that the police measure against him was “unlawful” and therefore “will
be withdrawn.”
The reason given in the letter was that “there was no evidence of a
sufficiently specific risk situation in the present case.” Thus, “the
prerequisite for issuing a prohibition order (addressing the person
causing the risk) was not met.” Internal police mails: “Get a cow off the ice”
From internal police e-mails FOCUS Online, it emerges that those
responsible were aware of the legal problems early on. The Head of Legal
/ Personnel at the Dessau-Roßlau Police Inspection noted that one
should “bake very small rolls” and try to “get the cow off the ice” as
quickly as possible. In their assessment, the addressing of the threats
went “far beyond what is permissible in this context.”
Another letter states that at the time the threat was addressed,
there was “no sufficient probability that damage to … Mr. Sabri H. will
occur in the foreseeable future, which would be attributable to the
appellant (Hempel).” “A scandal”: father feels treated like a criminal
Putting it plainly, the police in Saxony-Anhalt never had a reliable
suspicion against Karsten Hempel. Just because of a completely
unsubstantiated “informant tip,” he was accused of plans for vigilante
justice – and he was subjected to an illegal measure. “A scandal,” says
Hempel. Although he was the victim of a violent crime as the father of a
murdered child, he was “treated like a perpetrator” – and the real
perpetrator Sabri H. was “classified as a victim.”
The 56-year-old emphasized to FOCUS Online that it was always about
law and justice, not revenge. That is why he is not satisfied with the
police’s withdrawal notice. He wants to see the entire investigation
file on his case, including the sections that have been blacked out so
far. Lawyer: If necessary, action for unredacted files
There, Hempel suspects, the police noted the name of the “informant.”
Hempel’s lawyer has already informed the investigators that his client
is entitled to “learn about horse and rider.”
If necessary, the complete
files will be “sued for at the administrative court.”
