Police officers injured in Stuttgart
29-year-old sentenced after riots in Eritrea
March 1, 2024, 8:35 a.m
In September, riots broke out in Stuttgart at an event organized by a pro-government Eritrean association. Hundreds of opponents of the Eritrean regime riot, 39 police officers are injured. Now a first verdict is made.
After the riots at an Eritrea event in Stuttgart in September, a 29-year-old was sent to prison for several years. The Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt district court sentenced the man late on Thursday evening to a prison sentence of three years and nine months, a court spokeswoman said. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
A 29-year-old man with Eritrean nationality was charged with particularly serious breach of the peace and grievous bodily harm, and he is also said to have attacked police officers. During the protests, he is said to have thrown, among other things, a paving stone weighing more than three kilograms. In its plea, the public prosecutor’s office had called for a prison sentence of four years. The defense had pleaded for acquittal and argued that the man could not be clearly identified from photos and video recordings, said the court spokeswoman.
Because of the importance of the case and the interest, the Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt district court heard in the Stammheim building of the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court. On the afternoon of September 16th, up to 200 riotous demonstrators demonstrated against the event in the Roman fort with roof battens and poles because, in their opinion, the participants were close to the dictatorial regime in Africa.
They threw stones and bottles at police officers, causing a stir and terror across the country. According to the public prosecutor’s office, 39 police officers were injured, some of them seriously.