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There is said to have been a physical altercation between two prisoners in the courtyard of the Hünfeld correctional facility. The evidence in court was thin.
Hünfeld – There can be harsh physical confrontations between prisoners in the prison. But when the judiciary tries to clarify them, they come across contradictory statements, not very reliable evidence or problems with sentencing.
This was the case in a recent case in which two young North Africans were on trial. For one of them, the trial ended with an acquittal and a small fine. It was stopped against the other because he was already serving a prison sentence and, according to Judge Dorothee Wagner, a further conviction would hardly increase it.
Violence in Hünfeld prison: proceedings against prisoners discontinued
The two were accused of two counts of physical abuse and one count of insults. In each case, one fellow prisoner was seriously injured by headbutts, punches and sharp objects during his release. In one case, the victim has since been deported to his country of origin and was therefore unable to testify. In the other case, the judge, public prosecutor and defense had doubts about the credibility of the injured party.
One of the defendants, in consultation with his public defender, did not provide any information about the matter or himself. His trial was severed and dropped. The other said that the first time he wanted to confront the injured party with fellow countrymen about debts. But he insulted her. The prison's courtyard is monitored with video; Footage showed the argument unfolding, but not clearly. The defendant claimed that he did not strike, but intervened to settle the dispute.
In the other case, he himself was attacked by the injured party, but did not defend himself. That gave him a bloody lip. There was another prisoner there who is said to have hit the victim with a sharpened cell key. There were no video recordings of this. Prison staff couldn't remember exactly what happened. The victim was also no longer sure who hit him or hurt him with the key and when. The background was allegedly a dispute over drugs, in which Arabs and Russian-Germans were said to have fought for dominance in the activities in the prison.
The victim said there had been verbal arguments and threats for a long time. He attributed this to the North Africans suffering from drug withdrawal and becoming aggressive. He doesn't take drugs himself. However, these statements were questioned in court. Some time ago, the injured party was transferred from prison to forensics, a psychiatric clinic for prisoners. He protested violently against this: he had not been examined psychiatrically at all.
Prison doctor insulted: fined 30 euros
The public prosecutor found that the statements did not match. The evidence is thin and not sufficient for a conviction. The defense saw it the same way. As far as the accusation of insult is concerned: The defendant went to the prison doctor because of a headache. However, he did not give him any medication, but instead demanded that he come back with an interpreter.
The defendant regretted the insult that was expressed, although it was not very serious. The doctor accepted the apology. There was a fine of 30 daily rates of one euro each. There was a 30 euro fine just a few weeks ago for a drug incident – also in the prison in Hünfeld. (by Andreas Alt)
