Cops net escaped Iraqi rape suspect
FAILED ASYLUM-SEEKER: ARRESTED AFTER FLEEING GERMANY German authorities hunt down man wanted for murder of teen after outcry.
Afailed Iraqi asylum-seeker suspected of raping and murdering a teenage girl in Germany was arrested in Iraq overnight, German authorities said yesterday, after his escape sparked outrage and raised questions over immigration and police failings.
Ali Bashar, 20, who is believed to have strangled 14-year-old Susanna Maria Feldman after sexually assaulting her, was “arrested by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq at the request of German federal police”, said German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
The arrest came after an outcry in Germany as police hunting the fugitive admitted that Bashar had fled with his family.
They managed to fly out of Duesseldorf airport even though the names on their identity documents did not match those on their airline tickets, said police, adding that their identity was only checked against the photos on the papers.
Bashar also turned out to have chalked up a long police record over less than three years in Germany and should have been expelled months ago.
“The government should beg for forgiveness from Susanna’s parents,” said the daily Bild.
“The only thing that is worse than the murder of a child is the murder of a child by a criminal who should not have been in our country.
“Crimes like these are explosive for our society because they are the bitter proof that this country does not have sufficient control over who is residing within our borders.”
Newspaper Zeitung Frankfurter Allgemeine noted that “these cases seem to be adding up”.
“It is time to wonder how far the credibility of the government is being undermined when it is surrounded by so many absurdities,” added the daily.
Revealing that Feldman and her mother were members of the Jewish community, the Central Council of Jews in Germany urged a “swift and comprehensive” probe into the case as well as tough consequences for the perpetrator.
The case puts renewed pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government over the decision to open Germany’s borders at the height of Europe’s refugee crisis in 2015, which led to the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers over two years.
Bashar should have been deported after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal. – AFP
The government should beg for forgiveness