On New Year’s Eve, there were riots in Kreuzberg and Neukölln in particular Photo: Christian Mang
By Maren Wittge and Matthias Becker
Fires, barricades, firecrackers thrown at passers-by, attacks on police officers and rescue workers, blank guns – the New Year’s party in Berlin became a disgrace.
Almost 4000 operations had police and fire brigade together on New Year’s Eve. In total, more than 30 emergency services were injured. More than 100 people were arrested by the police as a result, and all of them have since been released.
A police spokesman for BZ: “Of the 103 arrested, 103 are free again after their identity has been registered.” The investigations are ongoing.
The reason for this: In Berlin, those arrested must be released from custody after 48 hours at the latest if there are no sufficient reasons for pre-trial detention. These would be, for example, the risk of flight or blackout.
However, the fact that the Böller-Chaos are at large does not mean that they will get away without punishment. Resistance to law enforcement officials and attacks on police officers are punishable with a fine or imprisonment for up to three years. According to Section 115 of the Criminal Code (StGB), this protection also includes the fire brigade, rescue and emergency services.
Criminal law expert Ehssan Khazaeli (34) to BILD: “Even hindering the operation is a violation that can be prosecuted.” For the expert, it is enough if chaotic people throw fireworks at emergency services and thereby make the operation more difficult.