Eritrea riots in Gießen: Justice works intensively
Eritrea riots in Gießen: Justice works intensively
In Gießen, the legal processing of the riots around the Eritrea Festival, which occurred in 2023, intensified. About a year after the incidents, it turns out that the authorities face huge challenges. Around 650 procedures are currently underway, which the public prosecutor has to deal with. Ute Sehlbach-Schellenberg, the deputy head of the Gießen public prosecutor's office, explains that new files are received from the police every two days. This illustrates the complexity of the situation that the authorities in this region presents new, unexpected tasks.
In the first few weeks after the riots, around 50 procedures have already been successfully completed. The use of modern technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), seems to play a key role. Justice Minister Christian Heinz emphasizes this during a visit to the public prosecutor. He underlines that AI cannot replace the work of human prosecutors, but makes their everyday work much easier. Thanks to this technology, comprehensive image and video data could be analyzed efficiently, which has made a decisive contribution to the identification of hundreds of accused.
background of the riots
The origins of violent riots are to be found in a continuing inner conflict within the Eritreig community. The ministry points out that there were already attacks during a similar event in 2022, which are due to the internal split between regimental and opposition groups. In 2022 there were already violent attacks on the festival site in which numerous people were injured and the damage to property was estimated at around 90,000 euros.
The mass violence that occurred in the summer of 2023 during the festival was even more serious. With around 1,500 police officers used, Gießen recorded a military -looking presence that the residents were concerned. At least 26 police officers suffered significant injuries in the course of the riots. The property damage to police vehicles incurred was 56,000 euros.
The police were on site during the riots and documented the events with video cameras. These recordings are of tremendous importance for the investigation, as they help to reconstruct the facts precisely. Justice Minister Heinz describes this procedure as a necessity in view of the difficulties of identifying individuals in a large and chaotic crowd.
The use of AI is not only limited to the identification of perpetrators. Chief Prosecutor Thomas Hauburger speaks of a paradigmatic change in law enforcement. In numerous investigation, data carriers play an increasingly central role. The sheer amount of data that is produced requires a quick and precise evaluation, which can hardly be mastered with conventional methods.
The Ministry emphasizes that the use of artificial intelligence in these processes is a forward -looking investment. "This not only makes the judiciary faster, but also more effective," says Hauburger. This is seen as an essential factor in order to be able to cope with current and future challenges in the field of crime processing.