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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Newsflash

The trial of a man accused of shooting a 20-year-old petrol station worker dead after he asked him to wear a COVID-19 facemask has begun in Germany.

Prosecutors called for the 50-year-old man to be jailed for life on Monday, 5th September.

Under German law, the defendant, who has not been named due to strict local privacy laws, would normally be eligible for release after 15 years.

But senior public prosecutor Nicole Frohn said in her plea to the Bad Kreuznach district court on Monday that the particular severity of the crime would be established. Qualifying the crime in this manner could mean that the defendant is not released after 15 years, according to local media.

According to the public prosecutor, the accused 50-year-old German is alleged to have killed the 20-year-old petrol station employee on 18th September, 2021, in Idar-Oberstein, a town in the Birkenfeld district in the western Germany’s state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The defendant allegedly shot the worker dead with a revolver after the employee, who has not been named, repeatedly pointed out the coronavirus-related mask requirement. The victim’s mother is reportedly a joint plaintiff.

The defendant is expected to enter a plea on Friday, 9th September.