“The regional court of Essen, Germany sentenced four teenagers to 8.5 and 10 years in prison for the murder of two Ukrainian basketball players Volodymyr Yermakov and Artem Kozachenko. Source: “European Truth” with reference to WDR Details: The court found that four teenagers, who were between 14 and 16 years old at the beginning of the trial, attacked two Ukrainians with knives and clubs, and therefore they are guilty of their deaths.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European Truth” with reference to WDR
Details: The court recognized that four teenagers, who at the beginning of the trial were between 14 and 16 years old, attacked two Ukrainians with knives and clubs, and therefore they are guilty of their death. However, the court did not find a xenophobic motive in their actions, saying that the defendants acted “realizing” that they “didn’t need a reason to kill someone.”
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Previously, the prosecutor’s office assumed that the athletes were attacked because of their Ukrainian origin.
Two attackers were sentenced to 10 years, another two to 8.5 years. The defendants asked for forgiveness from the parents of the murdered Ukrainians.
The verdicts have not yet entered into legal force, the defendants’ lawyers have announced that they will file an appeal.
Prehistory:
- The attack took place in the evening of February 10. Two Ukrainian basketball players were on their way to Dusseldorf when they met the four defendants on the bus. After everyone got off the bus at Oberhausen’s main train station, one of the accused allegedly stabbed both victims immediately.
- 17-year-old Volodymyr Ermakov died the same evening during an emergency operation in the hospital. His friend and teammate Artem Kozachenko, who was a year older, died 10 days later from septic multiorgan failure.