Focus on violence: Process for predatory extortion in Cuxhaven

On March 16, 2025, the second day of the trial at the Stade district court began with a delay of over an hour. The focus is on a 35-year-old Cuxhavener who is accused of predatory extortion and assault. The delay was caused by the long journey of a witness.

The defendant is said to have threatened a woman several times and beat her at a meeting to fainting. The first witness, a commissioner from Cuxhaven, reported a young woman who came to the guard in May 2023 and told her seriously injured sister in the hospital. The injured party was already known to the commissioner because there had previously been a fire.

Details of the incident

Neighbors of the accused family asked for 70,000 euros, which were in the apartment, which led to weeks of threats. The victim's sister reported that her sister had bought a cell phone from the neighbors and suspected that the neighbor could access it. In the hospital, the victim told about fear of death, but had to translate by her sister because she does not speak German.

In addition, the accused is accused of having beaten the victims with a chair. An emergency call was registered, and the injured party's cell phone was later eliminated. A violent protection act of the injured party is available, the previous incidents of domestic violence documented by her husband. The injured party wanted to separate from her husband. A brother of the injured party, who also appears as a witness, denied knowledge of the 70,000 euros and domestic violence, but spoke little German.

The ex-husband of the injured party confirmed domestic violence, but the procedure was discontinued in this regard. It is unclear whether he threatened the kidnapping of the children to Syria. A third day of the jury is planned for the end of March, in which family members of the accused and new chat courses are included.

There is a legal classification of the incident in the regulations of Section 249 of the Criminal Code, which describes the robbery as a basic fact and includes the combination of theft with compulsory means such as violence or threats. Robbery is a two -act crime that requires both lenses and subjective characteristics. Here, violence is defined as a physically acting compulsion to overcome the resistance of the victim, while a threat is aimed at the intensification of a future evil.