German arrested over deadly 1991 attack on asylum-seekers
Straitstimes – BERLIN (AFP) – German police on Monday (April 4) arrested a far-right suspect over a deadly arson attack on a shelter for asylum-seekers more than 30 years ago, federal prosecutors said.The alleged assailant, identified only as Peter S., was detained in the western state of Saarland on charges of murder, attempted murder and arson with fatal consequences.The federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Peter S.
is believed to have entered the centre for asylum-seekers in the state capital Saarlouis on Sept 19, 1991, amid a wave of xenophobic violence following German reunification.He allegedly poured petrol and set a fire, prompted “by his racist and right-wing extremist views”.The blaze spread rapidly up the stairs and trapped a 27-year-old asylum seeker from Ghana, Mr Samuel Yeboah, in the attic. Yeboah died of his severe burns and smoke inhalation the same day
.Two other residents managed to save their own lives by jumping out the window, suffering broken bones from their fall. The remaining 18 occupants were not hurt.Prosecutors said that before the arson attack, Peter S. sat with other members of the far-right scene in a bar discussing racist riots in the eastern town of Hoyerswerda which had begun days before.”Participants in the conversation made clear that they would approve of carrying out attacks in Saarlouis as well,” prosecutors said.Investigators believe that after the bar closed, Peter S. went directly to the shelter and set the fire.
Rampant neo-Nazi violence
For nearly a week that September, Hoyerswerda was the scene of a shocking series of assaults on refugees and foreign contract workers, including a petrol bomb attack on a block of flats housing asylum-seekers.More than 30 people were hurt in the course of the riots, which drew global headlines and marked the start of rampant neo-Nazi violence in the ex-communist east of the newly reunited country
.Der Spiegel magazine reported on its website that Peter S. was born in 1971 in Sarrelouis near the French border and was a leading figure in the local neo-Nazi scene.He was reportedly long considered a suspect in the arson case but never detained due to lack of evidence.Federal prosecutors, who probe politically motivated crimes, only took over the investigation two years ago after state authorities closed the case without charging a suspect.In the statement on Monday, the federal prosecutor’s office said “new findings” had led to the case being reopened based on a “strong evidence” of a far-right and racist motive.Peter S. was to appear before a judge late on Monday to determine whether he will be remanded in custody.
