More than 30 years after a deadly arson attack on an accommodation for asylum seekers in Saarlouis, the federal prosecutor’s office had a suspect arrested. Peter S. was arrested by the state police in Saarland on Monday and should be brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice later that day, the Federal Public Prosecutor said on Monday in Karlsruhe. S. is accused of murder, attempted murder and arson resulting in death.
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
On September 19, 1991, S. is said to have gone to an accommodation for asylum seekers in Saarlouis and set a fire there out of his racist and right-wing extremist sentiments. He is said to have poured out petrol and ignited it. According to the investigators, the fire spread at high speed in the stairwell and caught a 27-year-old refugee from Ghana in the attic. The man died the same day as a result of his burns and smoke inhalation.
Two other residents could only save themselves by jumping out of the window, they suffered broken bones. The other 18 residents of the shelter were unharmed. The case has been on the Tagesspiegel list of deaths from right-wing violence since reunification for years.
Before the arson attack in a restaurant, the attacker is said to have exchanged views with other right-wing extremists about the racist attacks on accommodation for foreigners in Hoyerswerda, Saxony. The group is said to have made it clear that they would also like such attacks in Saarlouis. After the restaurant closed, S. is said to have gone to the hostel for asylum seekers and set it on fire.
In September 1991, racially motivated attacks had taken place in Hoyerswerda for several days. The riots were the beginning of a whole series of right-wing extremist acts of violence in Germany.
The federal prosecutor’s office only took over the investigation two years ago. The original investigations by the state judiciary had already been discontinued because no perpetrator could be identified. The procedure was resumed on the basis of new findings. There were “serious indications” of a right-wing extremist and racist background to the attack. This assumption and the suspicion against S. were subsequently confirmed. (AFP)
