Germany: Afghan brothers jailed for life for killing sister
A court in Germany has convicted two Afghan men of killing their 34-year-old elder sister because they didn’t agree with her lifestyle
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A court in Germany convicted two Afghan men Thursday of killing their 34-year-old elder sister because they didn't agree with her lifestyle.
The Berlin regional court found the men, aged 28 and 24, guilty of murder for killing the mother of two in July 2021. Her body was later found in a suitcase buried near where the older brother lived in Bavaria.
Judges sentenced the men to life imprisonment. Announcing the verdict, presiding judge Thomas Gross said the men had sought to deny their sister the right to choose her own life and viewed her as “inferior” because she was a woman, German news agency dpa reported.
The victim, who was divorced, had tried to start a new relationship that her brothers disagreed with.
During the trial the older brother, Sayed Yousuf H., had claimed his sister Maryam H.'s death was an accident and his younger brother hadn't been involved. Lawyers for the younger brother, Seyed Mahdi H., had sought their client's acquittal.
The surnames of the defendants and the victim, who all came to Germany as refugees, were not released for privacy reasons.
In a separate case, a court in northern Germany convicted a 22-year-old German woman of being an accessory to manslaughter in the killing of a 27-year-old Iraqi man, identified only as Ceetin K.
The asylum-seeker was killed in April 2017 by the woman's brother and then-boyfriend on the North Sea island of Amrum. His body was found buried in the dunes six months later. The men — both German citizens, have already been convicted of murder, with the brother receiving a seven-year sentence and the other man sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Flensburg regional court concluded that the defendant, whose name wasn't released, had falsely told her then-boyfriend that Ceetin K. had raped her, resulting in the men's plan to kill him.
It sentenced the woman Thursday to three years in prison, with three months already considered served due to the length of the court proceedings.
She was sentenced as a juvenile due to the fact that she was 16 at the time of the killing. The court had sentenced her as an accessory to manslaughter, rather than accessory to murder, because she wasn't aware of the way in which Ceetin K. was to be killed.
Both verdicts can be appealed.