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Asylum seeker jailed for life in Germany for abuse, murder

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FREIBURG, Germany: An asylum seeker claiming to be from Afghanistan was on Thursday sentenced to life in jail in Germany for the rape and murder of a student that stoked a public backlash against a mass influx of migrants.


Hussein Khavari, of uncertain age and origin, was found guilty of the deadly night-time attack on medical student Maria Ladenburger, 19, in October 2016 in the university town of Freiburg.


Khavari pushed her off her bicycle as she was riding home alone from a party, then bit, choked and repeatedly raped her and left her on the bank of a river where she drowned.


Presiding judge Kathrin Schenk condemned the extreme “lack of empathy” of Khavari, who was handcuffed and wearing a black hooded jumper, before reading out the verdict and sentence, which were greeted with applause in the courtroom.


She handed down the maximum sentence of life in prison, which under German law means 15 years behind bars, with no chance of parole and the possibility of “security detention” afterwards if the convict is still deemed to pose a threat to society.


Schenk said she saw almost no chance of rehabilitation, telling Khavari that “you would have to become an entirely different human being”.


Khavari had been arrested seven weeks after the murder, following a huge manhunt in the town near the French border.


Police had found a black hair partially dyed blond at the scene, then spotted Khavari by his hairstyle on security camera footage and linked him to the crime using his DNA.


As the crime sparked public anger and revulsion, social media users posted sarcastic “thank you” messages to Chancellor Angela Merkel over her liberal policy that brought more than one million refugees and migrants to the country.


— AFP


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