In the trial surrounding the throwing of a hand grenade at a mourning community in Altbach near Esslingen, the defendant had his lawyer admit the crime. The accusation is correct, said Stefan Holoch, the 23-year-old’s defense attorney, in Stuttgart. The man also sent an apology through his lawyer: “He would like to use me to apologize to everyone who was harmed,” said Holoch.
The public prosecutor’s office accuses the Iranian citizen of, among other things, attempted murder. He is said to have thrown a hand grenade at a mourning community in Altbach near Esslingen on June 9th. According to the public prosecutor’s office, at least 15 people were injured, some seriously. “He deliberately took advantage of the fact that the mourners were thinking about the deceased,” said the prosecutor. It was only by a lucky coincidence that the grenade ricocheted off a branch and therefore landed 30 meters away from the mourners and exploded.
According to investigators, the background to the crime is a feud that has been raging between two rival groups in the Stuttgart area for many months. The prosecutor said the defendant belonged to a Kurdish group. “He suspected there would be numerous relatives or sympathizers of the enemy group at the funeral.”
For security reasons, the trial will take place in the strictly secured hall of the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart-Stammheim. Eleven days of negotiations have been scheduled so far in the trial. A verdict is not expected before mid-March.
