‘Afghan’ jailed for knife murder in Germany amid far-right tensions
LANDAU IN DER PFALZ, Germany: A German court jailed a failed asylum seeker who claims to be from Afghanistan for stabbing his 15-year-old exgirlfriend to death, in a case the far-right has seized upon in its campaign against migrants.
The defendant, identified only as Abdul D, received a jail term of eight and a half years from the juvenile court in the western town of Landau.
The verdict came a week after violent anti-immigrant protests erupted in the eastern city of Chemnitz over the fatal stabbing of a man, allegedly by a Syrian and an Iraqi.
Abdul D had admitted to the court to stabbing the girl at a drugstore in the town of Kandel on Dec 27. Prosecutors believe he acted out of jealousy after the girl broke up with him. Besides his nationality, doubts have been raised about his age, which he said was 15 at the time of the crime.
An expert had estimated his age as between 17 and a half and 20 but, given the uncertainty, the proceedings were held behind closed doors and under juvenile penal rules.
Abdul D arrived in Germany in April 2016 and his request for asylum was rejected in February 2017 although he was not immediately deported. The case is one in a string of high-profile crimes allegedly committed by asylum seekers that have stoked popular anger against the new arrivals and put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel over her liberal refugee policy.