Filmed beating outside German school prompts Brandenburg to weigh deportations
About 10 youths aged 13 to 15 are suspected of kicking and punching a 14-year-old in Frankfurt an der Oder. The state's interior minister vowed swift consequences and said deportations are being examined.
Symbolic image · Photo: Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Authorities in the eastern German state of Brandenburg are stepping up pressure after a brutal attack outside a secondary school in Frankfurt an der Oder. About 10 children and teenagers aged 13 to 15 are suspected of kicking and punching a 14-year-old on Wednesday, including blows to the head after he was already on the ground. The suspects filmed the assault and the video spread online.
Police said there are 10 suspects of German, Polish, Russian and Syrian nationality, under investigation for dangerous bodily harm and robbery. Some were taken out of class the day after the attack, and officers are visiting their families. Children under 14 cannot be prosecuted in Germany. Interior Minister Jan Redmann told broadcaster RBB that offenders "must feel consequences, and young offenders especially very quickly." He said officials are also examining whether deportations are possible.
Social Affairs Minister René Wilke said those who create insecurity in Germany cannot invoke insecurity in their country of origin. Youth violence is also a concern elsewhere: police in Potsdam and on the outskirts of Berlin arrested two suspects aged 15 and 17 this week.