The “Dagobert” Case

German Justice

An online supplement to the books
The German Way and When in Germany... by Hyde Flippo
McGraw-Hill/NTC Publishing

Last updated: 1 October 2004

German courts continue to hand out what are for most people in North America very light sentences for the nature of the crime.

The “Dagobert” department store bombing case (see "Police") has wound through the German courts again, but “Uncle Scrooge“ still got off lightly in the opinion of many observers. After the prosecution appealed Arno Funke's March 1995 sentence of seven years and nine months, the German Federal Supreme Court for criminal cases (Bundesgerichtshof) threw out the sentence and ordered a retrial. In arguing the reopened case, Funke's attorneys proposed a sentence of less than seven years, while the prosecution wanted ten and a half. In June 1996 the court settled for a compromise sentence of nine and a half years. (Source: "The Week in Germany" newsletter, 21 June 1996)

Another recent case concerned the so-called ?Tunnel? robbers in Berlin. Despite the fact that the five men confessed to bank robbery, extortion, and the abduction of 16 hostages, the German court handed down sentences of just six to 13 years. (German news releases referred to this as ?long sentences.?) This seems a bit lenient when one considers that the robbers held their hostages for 17 hours after heisting about DM 10 million ($7 million) from a branch of the Commerzbank in Berlin-Zehlendorf. The five crooks—variously from Lebanon, Syria, and Germany—were dubbed the ?Tunnel? gangsters after they made their escape through a tunnel they had prepared in advance.

An earlier notorious case, involving a German man who stabbed tennis champion Monica Seles (1973- ) during a 1993 match in Hamburg, also resulted in what would be considered a light sentence in much of the world, even though Seles was not able to play competively for two years after the attack. Günter Parche, a Steffi Graf fan, only received a two-year suspended sentence for his crime, a fact that stunned even Steffi Graf herself: “This will be yet another reason for those abroad to shake their heads in disbelief.”

THIS SITE

Order When in Germany and The German Way
directly from Amazon.com Books

Web site Copyright © 1997-2004 Hyde Flippo. Graphic design by Erik Flippo.

Hyde Flippo is solely responsible for the content of this site and, other than permission granted to publish copyrighted material, McGraw-Hill/NTC Publishing has no direct involvement, financial or otherwise, with this site.

The “Dagobert” Case

German Justice

Related Pages