2017 Kandel stabbing attack

2017 Kandel stabbing attack
Date December 27, 2017 (2017-12-27)
Location Germany Kandel, Rhineland-Palatinate
Type stabbing
Deaths 1
Suspect(s) Afghanistan Abdul Mobin Dawodzai

The 2017 Kandel stabbing attack was a fatal stabbing on 27 December 2017 in the town of Kandel in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. An Afghan asylum seeker, who had been denied refugee status, was charged with the murder of his 15-year-old German former girlfriend, allegedly after she ended the relationship. The case made national and international headlines and sparked a political debate about the German refugee policies, especially how to deal with underage unaccompanied refugees.[1][2][3]

Incident

Mia Valentin was murdered on 27 December 2017 in a drugstore in the town of Kandel.[4] The accused Abdul D. and Valentin had had a relationship for several months. In the beginning of December 2017, after she had ended the relationship, he allegedly began to threaten Valentin. She and her parents made complaints to the police in mid-December. On the morning of 27 December 2017, police officers had visited the perpetrator. Later that day, he allegedly stabbed Valentin after he followed her into the store, using a 20 cm knife. She died shortly afterwards in hospital.[3][5] The suspect allegedly bought the knife at the same store just before he attacked her.[6]

On 15 December 2017, the victim's parents had filed a criminal complaint, alleging that suspect had slandered and threatened their daughter.[7]

Accused

The alleged perpetrator was named as Abdul Mobin Dawodzai from Afghanistan. He came to Germany in April 2016 and initially resided in Frankfurt, later in a center for young refugees in Germersheim. His asylum claim was rejected in February 2017, but he was not deported.[8] The parents of the victim strongly doubted that he was only 15 years old, so an investigation was launched to determine his true age.[1] The perpetrator had been known to the police for a serious bodily injury crime committed in school.[3][5][9]

The suspect was charged with murder,[9] and underwent a medical examination in response to allegations that he misstated his age.[1] The age assessment was carried out by evaluating X-rays of hand, clavicle and dentition of the suspect. The findings of the examination were presented by the State's attorney in February 2018. These findings concluded that the suspect was at least 17 years and six months old, but most likely around 20.[10]

During the trial he was tried as a minor. Dawodzai's lawyer denied he was older than 20. The prosecution called for a 10 year sentence while the defense attorney asked for a 7.5 year sentence.[11]

On 3 September 2018, Dawodzai was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison for murder of Valentin. Maximilian Ender, Dawodzai's lawyer called the sentenced "correct" and said that his client had accepted the verdict.[11] Locals protested outside the court calling the sentence of 8.5 years for murder too short.[11]

Aftermath

Political debate

The murder reignited German public debate over refugee policy, in particular, debate over abuse of refugee policy by adult men claiming to be child refugees.[12][1][13]

Several politicians of FDP, CDU, CSU, AfD, SPD and also Green parties demanded a better control of young unaccompanied refugees as a consequence of the case. The authorities of Rhineland-Palatinate began an investigation to determine consequences.[3] Julia Klöckner (CDU) offered condolences to the parents of Mia Valentin and demanded an investigation, as did Eva Högl (SPD).[3] Stephan Mayer (CSU) demanded a hardened course against underage offenders.[3] Alexander Gauland (AfD) stated that the German policies of open borders were responsible for the case.[3] Konstantin von Notz (The Greens) demanded a better prevention and a closer look to the underage unaccompanied refugees.[3] The Interior Minister of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann (CSU) demanded an age test for all underage refugees who were not clearly recognizable as children.[14] FDP chairman Christian Lindner suggested faster deportation of underage criminal asylum seekers.[15]

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister President of Saarland spoke out in favor of obligatory age tests of young refugees,[16] as did the Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund.[17] Official investigations in some German states showed, that at least 30 to 50 percent of the age records of alleged underage refugees are wrong.[17]

Unlike other German TV news broadcasters, newsmagazine Tagesschau did not report the case at first. Only after public pressure Tagesschau featured the incident in its main edition.[18]

Protests

Two months after the attack there were demonstrations in the town, involving over a thousand people.[19] The local authorities claimed that most of the anti-immigration demonstrators were not from Kandel and that the town was being used as a "platform" by right-wingers. A separate group simultaneously demonstrated against racism.[20]

Documentary The Girl and the Refugee

The documentary The Girl and the Refugee, which is Episode 5 of the series What Moves Germany, was shown on 4 June 2018 on Das Erste, a public television channel in Germany. The documentary is about the Kandel murder by stabbing of Mia Valentin, and about the attempted murder by stabbing five days earlier of a 17-year-old girl by another Afghan refugee in Darmstadt. Looking for answers, the filmmakers travel to Afghanistan where they are told that a woman who separates from her man "must be killed." The documentary is an hr-SWR co-production, directed by Christian Gropper and Kai Diezemann. [21][22][23][24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Benhold, Katrin (17 January 2017). "A Girl's Killing Puts Germany's Migration Policy on Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ↑ Teen suspected of fatally stabbing girl was victim's ex-boyfriend: investigator, The Local
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Die Tat und ihre Puzzlestücke, Frankfurter Allgemeine
  4. ↑ "Kandel: „Mia Valentin"-Platz gefordert!". Pi-News (in German). 29 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 Polizei besuchte 15-jährigen Messerstecher kurz vor der Tat, Sueddeutsche Zeitung
  6. ↑ "Attack on Mia (15) was murder". Bild (in German). 16 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018. he followed the girl and her two young companions to a supermarket. There he bought the knife, with which he later stabbed Mia.
  7. ↑ "Germany: Afghan teen in custody over fatal stabbing". AP. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ↑ JANINE WOLLBRETT (3 January 2018). "His asylum application was denied in February 2017". Bild (in German). Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  9. 1 2 "German prosecutors raise charge in teen's stabbing to murder". Fox News. AP. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  10. ↑ JANINE WOLLBRETT (20 February 2018). "His asylum application was denied in February 2017". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 20 February 2018. Mutmaßlicher Täter von Kandel war unter 21 Jahre alt
  11. 1 2 3 (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Germany: Refugee sentenced to 8 years and 6 months for teen murder | DW | 03.09.2018". DW.COM. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  12. ↑ Fürstenau, Marcel (29 December 2017). "Opinion: Murder of German girl will have political consequences". DW. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Warum der Tatverdächtige nicht abgeschoben wurde, Die Welt
  14. ↑ Herrmann fordert Alterstest bei jungen Flüchtlingen, Die Welt
  15. ↑ Lindner für Abschiebung minderjähriger krimineller Asylbewerber, Frankfurter Allgemeine
  16. ↑ Kramp-Karrenbauer will härteren Umgang mit Asylbewerbern
  17. 1 2 Viele der angeblich Minderjährigen als volljährig eingestuft, Die Welt
  18. ↑ Deshalb berichtete die "Tagesschau" zunächst nicht über Kandel, Die Welt
  19. ↑ "Nach tödlicher Messerattacke: Tausende bei Demonstrationen in Kandel". FAZ.NET (in German). 2018-03-03. ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  20. ↑ "Dueling protests in German town after teen allegedly murdered by refugee". DW. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  21. ↑ http://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/sendung/das-maedchen-und-der-fluechtling-folge-5-100.html
  22. ↑ MICHAEL HANFELD (4 June 2018). "THE GIRL AND THE REFUGEE — Are you only reading about it in the press?". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2018. In Afghanistan, where the authors are trying to contact the family of the perpetrator of Kandel, the answers are clear. A woman who separates from her man, "must be killed,"
  23. ↑ Walter Bau (4 June 2018). "ARD DOCUMENTARY "The girl and the refugee" owes answers". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2018. Two violent acts shocked the German public at the end of 2017. The alleged perpetrators were both young refugees from Afghanistan, the victims were two German girls. One was killed by a knife attack, the other seriously injured. The two cases in Darmstadt and Kandel triggered a heated public debate.
  24. ↑ CLAUDIA KAFFANKE (4 June 2018). "After Kandel: Searching for Clues in Afghanistan". Südwestrundfunk (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2018. As a Muslim, it is forbidden to kill, the TV crew explains. But women who leave their men would still have to be punished. And a villager says, "Such a woman must be killed."
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