header-logo header-logo

Foreign intervention

19 March 2009 / Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC
Issue: 7361 / Categories: Opinion , EU
printer mail-detail

Geoffrey Bindman recalls a disturbing encounter with German criminal justice

In the early hours of 18 January 1996 a refugee hostel in a suburb of the ancient north German city of Lubeck was destroyed in an arson attack. Ten people died in the conflagration and 38 others were severely injured. This was one of a series of violent incidents linked to a resurgence of Nazism which had taken place in that part of Germany. Four skinheads with a record of neo-Nazi activity were soon arrested. One of them had recently been convicted of desecrating a Jewish cemetery. There was evidence that a car which they were known to use had been parked near the hostel not long before the fire started.

However, after questioning the suspects the police released them. A few days later they arrested Safwan Eid, a 20-year-old Lebanese resident of the hostel. He was charged with arson and murder and the prosecution proceeded in earnest. Leading Hamburg lawyer, Gabriele Heinecke, agreed to represent him.

Political background

There was a disturbing

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll