The attack of two men wearing kippas– also known as yarmulkes – on a street in Berlin caused outrage in Germany. The suspect is in court on charges of hate speech and aggravated assault.
The trial against a 19-year-old Syrian man who attacked two men wearing kippas, the traditional male Jewish head coverings also known as yarmulkes, began on Tuesday in Berlin.
The attack, which was caught on video, took place in April in the Berlin district of Prenzlauerberg. The disjointed images show three suspects, one of which hurled verbal abuse and struck one of the victims with his belt. The man also yelled the word “Jew” in Arabic. The attacker turned himself in to authorities days later.
The victims, one of whom shot the video, were not in fact Jewish. One of them, who identified himself as Adam, spoke to DW in April about the incident and explained that the kippa had been a gift from a friend who had told him it was “unsafe” to wear out in the open.
Read more: How Germany’s anti-Semitism commissioner plans to fight hatred
The trial will take place at a court in the Berlin district of Tiergarten and the defendants, which include the men present at the scene, are charged with aggravated assault and hate speech.
Defendant says ‘no anti-Semitic motive’
The 19-year-old Syrian admitted to the attack, but said he had been under the influence of marijuana and argued that the incident had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
He told the judge that the victim of the attack had insulted him first. Additionally, the defendant stated he had never hit anyone before, despite the fact that a criminal case against him in also underway in the German city of Cottbus for causing bodily harm.
Under German law, the defendant, who is 19, is eligible to be tried as a juvenile. Whether he is tried as an adult or a juvenile will be up to the court.
For more read the full of article at The Dw
