Two men jailed in Hamburg for Iran-backed plot to kill Jewish leaders in Germany
A Hamburg court sentenced two men to prison for plotting to assassinate Jewish leaders in Germany on behalf of Iran's secret service. One received eight and a half years as the ringleader.
Hamburg court hands down sentences in Iranian-directed assassination plot
A Hamburg court on Thursday jailed two men convicted of planning to murder prominent Jewish figures in Germany at the direction of Iran's intelligence services, dw.com reports.
The two defendants, both Afghan nationals living in Denmark, were found guilty of espionage and attempted murder. The court identified the 54-year-old as the ringleader and sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison. His 43-year-old accomplice received four and a half years.
Prosecutors said the older defendant had received his instructions directly from Iran's al-Quds Brigades, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. He in turn recruited the younger man to either carry out one of the attacks himself or find a third party willing to do so. The 43-year-old was also tasked with sourcing a weapon.
Among the targets identified by the court was Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Green Party politician Volker Beck, who heads the German-Israeli society, was also named as a planned victim. Beyond those two individuals, the 54-year-old had reportedly made preparations for an arson attack on a kosher delicatessen in Berlin.
The pair were arrested by Danish authorities in Aarhus last year and subsequently extradited to Germany.
Beck called on the German government to expel Iran's ambassador and consular officials once the charges were made public. "Jewish life and a commitment to the Jewish and democratic state are repeatedly threatened with murder and attacked by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran on German soil," he said.
Germany's Foreign Office summoned Iran's ambassador following the arrests in Denmark. The Iranian embassy in Berlin responded with a statement dismissing what it described as "unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran's enemies."
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)