‘Don't allow hatred to spread’: Hundreds gather in Frankfurt
to mourn child as tensions rise
The Local
news@thelocal.de
@thelocalgermany
31 July 2019
09:15 CEST+02:00
‘Don't allow hatred to spread’: Hundreds gather in Frankfurt
to mourn child as tensions rise
Hundreds of people gathered outside Frankfurt’s main station
on Tuesday to pay tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after being pushed
under a train, amid rising tensions in Germany.
There was a deeply sad atmosphere with some tension as a
group of around 400 people - including about 50 far-right demonstrators -
attended the vigil for the youngster at 6.30pm, reported German media on
Wednesday.
Representatives of the Catholic and Protestant congregations
in Frankfurt took part in the service - as well as railway station employees
and members of the Eritrean community.
Frankfurt station's mission had invited people to pray
together a day after the shocking attack on platform seven. On Monday morning
shortly before 10am, a mother and her son were pushed in front of an ICE high
speed train as it was arriving at the station.
The mother was able to save herself by rolling onto a
footpath between the tracks and was treated for shock. Her son was hit by the
train and died at the scene.
The sign at platform seven letting people know about
Tuesday's gathering. Photo: DPA
The 40-year-old suspected perpetrator, an Eritrean-born
father-of-three who lives in Switzerland, is also accused of trying to push
another 78-year-old woman in front of the train but she managed to stop herself
from falling onto the tracks.
German prosecutors have laid murder and attempted murder
charges against the man over the attack that left eye-witnesses in need of
trauma counselling and shocked the nation.
Polarized Germany
Shortly after the crime, the far-right Alternative for
Germany (AfD) party quickly seized on the crime to once more criticize what it
regards as the flawed immigration policies of Chancellor Angela Merkel's
government.
"The hideousness of this act can hardly be
surpassed," wrote the party's Alice Weidel on Twitter, demanding that the
government "finally start to protect the citizens of this country".
Many people have taken to social media to repeat this
sentiment. However, others slammed the AfD for using the incident for its own
political gain.
Tensions are already high in Germany following a series of
horrific events in recent months, including the racist shooting of a
26-year-old Eritrean man in Hesse's Wächtersbach, as well as threats against
representatives of the Left Party and against mosques in Germany.
Meanwhile, also in the state of Hesse, the fatal shooting of
pro-refugee CDU politician Walter Lübcke took place on June 2nd. The suspect in
custody has multiple links to the far-right scene, according to prosecutors.
Police separated the two groups of mourners outside
Frankfurt station. “You’re just exploiting the case,” some people called out to
the far-right group, reported Spiegel’s Felix Bohr.
It was only when Carsten Baumann, the head of the
Bahnhofsmission (station mission), began his service that the situation in the
square in front of Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof calmed down. Baumann stood together
with other pastors in front of a makeshift altar.
SEE ALSO: 'More police needed': Killing of child puts focus
on security in Germany's train stations
Baumann said that a glance at social media shows what
happened on Monday has divided society.
But one must not allow "hatred to spread", he
said. All thoughts should be with the parents, who "have lost
everything".
People have been laying flowers, cuddly toys, notes and
candles on platform seven in memory of the youngster. On the square in front of
the station, some people cried.
No motive known
For many in Germany, the crime has caused feeling of
helplessness. The motive of the perpetrator is still unclear.
The public prosecutor's office has no evidence that the
accused was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crime.
The Swiss authorities believe the suspect may have a psychiatric disorder.
"We have to endure the ignorance," said Baumann.
"We can only stand by the side of the boy and his family.”
There were then prayers for the station employees and
helpers who face difficulty in coping with what they experienced on Monday.
A member of the Eritrean community then prayed for peace in
the city. Baumann then called for a minute's silence.
Through that moment, he managed to unite the polarized crowd
on the station forecourt in silent memory of the boy.
At the end, Frankfurt's Mayor Peter Feldmann stepped up to
the microphone with touching words. "We cannot comprehend the pain that
has hit this family, this mother," he said.
"When suddenly there is this silence. This terrible
silence, when the child is irrevocably no longer there."
AFP/DPA/The Local
news@thelocal.de
@thelocalgermany
30 July 2019
16:02 CEST+02:00
An Eritrean man accused of killing an eight-year-old boy by
pushing him under a train in Germany had been on the run from Swiss police
after a violent incident last week, it has emerged.
The married father-of-three, identified by German media as
40-year-old Habte A., had also undergone psychiatric treatment this year, said
police in the Swiss canton of Zurich where he lived.
Last Thursday, he had flown into a rage and threatened a
neighbour with a knife and locked her up, and also trapped his wife and their
children, aged one, three and four, in their flat before running away.
The outbreak of violence was surprising according to his
wife and neighbour, Swiss police said. "They unanimously stated that they
had never seen him like this before," a police spokesman said.
Spiegel Online reported that the asylum seeker who had lived
in Switzerland for 13 years had worked in tram maintenance for the Zurich
Transport Authority since early last year.
The suspect told prosecutors that he had taken the train
from Basel to Frankfurt a few days ago.
Federal Police President Dieter Romann said that the man had
entered Switzerland without permission in 2006 and had applied for asylum
there, which he was granted two years later. "Since then, he has held a
category C settlement permit in Switzerland, which means that he is well
integrated," said Romann.
The suspect had been working and was "exemplary from
the point of view of the foreigners and asylum authorities in
Switzerland".
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer noted he had been
held up as an example of successful integration in a publication of the social
work organization SAH.
According to investigators, there are no indications of
radicalization.
German prosecutors laid murder and attempted murder charges
against the man over the attack Monday that left eye-witnesses in need of
trauma counselling and shocked the nation.
He allegedly also pushed the boy's mother onto the tracks at
Frankfurt's main station, and tried but failed to do the same to a 78-year-old
woman.
"While the mother could roll off after the fall and
move herself onto a narrow footpath between two tracks, her child was caught by
the arriving train and died, on the spot, of his injuries," said a
statement by Frankfurt
prosecutors.
Psychiatric examination
The man ran down a platform and across tracks but was
followed by passers-by including an off-duty officer, and overpowered by police
two blocks from the station.
The suspect did not previously know the victims and showed
no signs of alcohol or drug use, prosecutors spokeswoman Nadja Niesen said.
"The crime suggests a psychiatric disorder," she
told a press conference, adding that an examination would ascertain the level
of his criminal culpability.
SEE ALSO: 'More police needed': Killing of child puts focus
on security in Germany's train stations
The horrific crime has dominated newspaper front-pages and
TV news bulletins, and led politicians to call for heightened security, more
camera surveillance and tighter border controls.
Citizens have laid flower wreaths, candles and stuffed toys
at the site of the killing and a memorial service was scheduled at the station
in the evening.
Interior Minister Seehofer had cut short his summer holiday
to meet the heads of major security agencies in Berlin.
Seehofer emphasized that although the general crime rate in
Germany is decreasing, people could be feeling "very tense" about
security.
There will now be top-level discussions between agencies about
how security at railway stations in Germany can be improved. Seehofer demanded
a greater police presence at railway stations, echoing calls from other
politicians in Germany.
Motive still unknown
Prosecutors spokeswoman Niesen said the man in custody had
not yet spoken about a motive.
If formally charged, tried and then found guilty, he would
face a likely term of life in prison, she said.
In a similar case earlier this month, a 34-year-old mother
died after being pushed in front of a train, allegedly by a Serbian man.
Germany's far-right has seized on both killings to once more
criticise what it regards as the flawed immigration policies of Chancellor
Angela Merkel's government.
With reporting from Frank Zeller
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