Federal Court of Justice quashes Berlin verdict against influencer – New Year's Eve rocket fired into flat
The Federal Court of Justice quashed the suspended sentence imposed by Berlin's regional court against Atallah Younes, who fired a firework rocket into a Berlin flat on New Year's Eve 2024. The Berlin regional court must retry the case.
Federal Court of Justice overturns verdict in rocket case: retrial ordered in Berlin
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has quashed the verdict handed down by Berlin Regional Court I against influencer Atallah Younes. This is reported by DER SPIEGEL (Justice & Crime). Younes was sentenced in April 2025 to a six-month suspended sentence for property damage after he fired a New Year's Eve firework rocket into a Berlin flat during the night of 31 December 2024.
The then 23-year-old had fired off a New Year's Eve firework rocket by hand on New Year's Eve in Berlin-Neukölln. The rocket smashed through two window panes and detonated in the bedroom of a flat on the third floor. Younes subsequently published a video of the act on Instagram, where more than 300,000 people follow him. The recording was viewed over six million times before it was deleted.
The prosecution had charged attempted serious arson, attempted assault causing bodily injury and property damage, and demanded a two-year suspended sentence. The defendant had deliberately set off the firework and knowingly accepted the risk that people could be harmed. That the flat did not catch fire was mere chance.
The regional court did not follow this argument and agreed in essential points with the defence. The presiding judge explained that the defendant could have been expected to assume that the window panes would withstand the impact. The court based this on the statements of a fire expert and found no demonstrable intent.
Following the prosecution's appeal, the 5th Criminal Senate of the BGH in Leipzig reviewed the decision. The Senate levelled sharp criticism at the court's reasoning: "The judgment contains errors of law concerning the defendant's criminal intent, in particular it contains unresolved contradictions and applies excessive standards to the formation of conviction." The Berlin regional court must now retry and judge the case in a second proceeding.