Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
The mum of a 14-year-old girl raped and killed by an Iraqi man at an asylum centre has told of her fury after he appealed his sentence despite claiming he was prepared to spend his life behind bars.
The German Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe will check the details of the sentence and evaluate the case.
Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, was found raped and murdered next to a railway line in May last year in the city of Wiesbaden in the central German state of Hesse.
Pictures Credit: CEN
The victim’s asylum seeker boyfriend Ali Bashar, 22, was listed as a suspect and later arrested after he returned to his native Iraq and extradited to Germany.
Bashar was found guilty by the court in Wiesbaden , a city in central-western Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse and handed a life sentence last week.
Judge Bonk said in the sentencing: “The defendant is being sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, rape, aggravated robbery, GBH and coercion. The severity of this guilt was confirmed by the court.
Pictures Credit: CEN
Bonk also said that an early release for Bashar after 15 years could almost completely be ruled out.
The rapist was also ordered to pay the court costs as well as pay the victim’s mother and sister 50,000 EUR (44,926 GBP) each in compensation.
Bashar admitted in court to killing Susanna but denied the rape allegations.
Judge Bonk added: “The defendant did not show genuine regret or guilt throughout the trial.”
Susanna’s mother Diana Feldmann, 45, said: “I am angered by the appeal. This shows that the defendant lies and always tries to blame others. I can still remember exactly his closing words as he told the court he accepted the sentence and said he was prepared to spend the rest of his life in jail.
“It seems that when he said that he had not spoken to his lawyers. The judge was very clear in the sentencing. I am angry and sad. I hope that the court will close this case quickly.”
The judge also accused Bashar of not giving a genuine apology to the victim’s family, adding: “None of the witnesses reported that the Bashar and Susanna had a trusting, relaxed relationship, in fact a lot said the opposite.
“The chamber is also convinced that Susanna at no point had consensual sex with Bashar.
But sex did occur in the form of rape.”
Ali Bashar fled Germany together with his family by plane when police started a probe into the murder and rape of the teenage schoolgirl.
Acting on an international arrest warrant, he was captured in northern Iraq and sent back to Germany, where authorities say they believe he lied about his age when he entered the country in the first place.
According to local media, the case has already forced Chancellor Angela Merkel to speed up deportations of failed criminal asylum seekers like Bashar.
The suspect had his asylum application rejected and was previously arrested for fighting and armed robbery, according to reports.
During the high-profile case, Susanna’s mother said that her daughter was “happy and cheerful” after meeting Bashar’s circle of friends as she did not have many at school.
She told the court that one day before the victim’s disappearance, she had received a call from her.
Diana said: “At about 9:40pm, she called me and asked if she could stay with a [female] friend. Actually, she wanted to come home by bus. I said yes. I thought it would be better than walking around alone at night.”
According to the indictment, the victim actually went to meet a group of migrants outside a local asylum centre.
Ali Bashar then led her away to a quiet area where he raped her before strangling her to death and leaving her in an overgrown field next to a railway line.
In tears, Diana said that allowing Susanna to stay with a friend was “a mistake that I cannot forgive myself for to this day”, at which point the court testimony had to be interrupted to give the distraught mother time to recover.
Ali Bashar is also suspected of having twice raped an 11-year-old girl in his asylum centre bedroom, and faces a further trial.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
