GERMANY: Ethiopian immigrant severely beaten in racist attack in Potsdam

Record ID: 354467

  • Title: GERMANY: Ethiopian immigrant severely beaten in racist attack in Potsdam
  • Date: 19th April 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) JANN JAKOBS, POTSDAM MAYOR SAYING: "So far it was possible to go out in this city at night even with a different colour of skin. I think this made Potsdam a special place which led to a lot of people feeling at home here even if they were of foreign origin. This will change now and it also changes the atmosphere of a city. Catching the attackers won't
  • Embargoed: 4th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVABLJUBP264S4MNZIMTHCI4OXDC
  • Story Text: A 37-year-old Ethiopian immigrant was in critical condition after being severely beaten in a racist attack, doctors in the eastern German city of Potsdam said on Tuesday (April 18).
    The victim, who police said had dark skin, was attacked at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) while waiting for a streetcar in the centre of Potsdam on Sunday and was so badly beaten that he was nearly killed, police said.
    Authorities in the city southwest of Berlin said they were searching for two attackers wanted for attempted murder of the man, an engineer who has a German passport and two children.
    Potsdam mayor Jann Jakobs told reporters at a news conference:
    "So far it was possible to go out in this city at night even with a different colour of skin."
    "I think this made Potsdam a special place which led to a lot of people feeling at home here even if they were of foreign origin. This will change now and it also changes the atmosphere of a city," Jakobs said, adding "catching the attackers won't rectify everything. A lot of work is needed now."
    According to the medical director at the hospital where the victim is being treated "with such serious injuries it is safe to assume that the recovery will take a long time."
    Dr. Hubertus Wenisch said "it will take a long time until the patient reaches a good condition again but at the moment, please understand that we can't yet go into detail."
    Prosecutors have offered a 5,000-euro reward for information leading to the arrest of the attackers.
    On Tuesday, police said they would broadcast the voices of the suspected right-wing extremists who brutally beat the man of African origin.
    The victim was leaving his wife a message on the phone when the incident occurred and the voices of one or both assailants were recorded insulting the man about his colour of skin.
    Police were working to improve the quality of the tape and planned to publish it on the Internet in the hope someone might recognize the voices and come forward.
    About 100 people have been killed in a wave of far-right violence that followed German unification in 1990 that has often been directed at dark-skinned foreigners.
    The attacks have been most frequent in the formerly communist east of which Potsdam is a part.
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