Hamburg, Jan 9, (dpa/GNA) – The high-profile trial of an alleged paedophile who went by the online name of “White Tiger”, began behind closed doors in a German court on Friday.
Prosecutors accuse the 21-year-old of more than 200 crimes, including one case of murder and five cases of attempted murder, committed as an indirect perpetrator on the internet.
More than 30 children from countries including Germany, England, Canada and the United States are named as victims. A young Finnish woman has been admitted as a joint plaintiff.
The accused’s lawyer, Christiane YĂĽksel, described part of her defence strategy on Friday, saying the charges were “experimental.”
“This construct of so-called indirect perpetration is, as the word suggests, a construction that is factually flawed here and could not be proven,” she said.
She also told dpa that her client had been hit by fellow prisoners in a group cell, shortly before the start of the trial and would require medical attention.
The German-Iranian national is said to have been the head of a group of cybercriminals called “764”, who forced children aged between 11 and 15 to use violence against themselves on the internet for their own sexual gratification.
“White Tiger” is accused of committing the crimes between January 2021 and September 2023. As he was under the age of 21 at the time, the trial is being held behind closed doors in the youth chamber of Hamburg District Court.
The man was detained in mid-June last year at his parents’ home in Hamburg and has been in custody ever since.
A total of 82 trial dates have been scheduled until December.
Shortly before the trial began, his lawyer said the defendant was beaten up by other prisoners.
The lawyer told dpa that the defendant was taken from the Hahnöfersand juvenile detention centre to Hamburg on Thursday, and was staying together with other inmates in a group cell.
There, some of the inmates first demanded that he hand over his watch and then beat him up. One half of the defendant’s face was badly swollen and he has to undergo dental and general medical examinations, the lawyer said.
GNA