Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg: 17year old brutally beaten by 4 adult men

Sonja Prinz — Sat, 03 Dec 2016 20:59:18 +0000

Deutsche Version

As a worried mother I am turning to you and asking you for your cooperation:

I want just punishment for those men, who beat up and kicked my 17 year old son due to the colour of his skin so that he landed in hospital !

I want to cast out my cry for help as far and wide as possible in order to raise attention to the growing racial violence in our country!

I want that any form of racism be it verbal racial or any other form be punished!

I never again want to have to listen to a sentence like: ” I am not racist, but…”

I want that our government finally comprehends the seriousness of the situation and that plans are finally made and implemented to ban racism from our minds bit by bit !

This is what happened:

On the 26th of November, after a restless night of worrying and waiting for my 17 year old son, he finally came home, very pale, around 6.30 am. he immediately went to bed , and I just thought : let him have a good sleep, he’ll get his telling-off in the morning. Around midday he emerged from his room and could not move his arm, anymore, the tip of a bone pierced from underneath the skin on his shoulder and he had several bruises. The family overran him with questions, which he just avoided saying that he couldn’t remember anything. We scolded him but he insisted that he could not remember what happened; he said he was out with friends and went home around 1.30 am and could not believe it when we told him that it was 6.30 am. We thought he had maybe fallen , maybe he was ashamed and does not want to tell his parents what happened, maybe he had had too much to drink but we could get nothing more out of him -except: ” I think I was beaten by some Nazis but I don’t remember exactly”. I took him to the hospital while his older sister started to contact all his friends to find out what really had happened. After a very long wait in the emergency room, he was finally x-rayed. We were told the collar bone was broken, we should present ourselves at the surgery office hours on Monday to get an appointment for surgery.

When we arrived home in the evening, the big sister had found out from several friends that my son had been beaten up by several men. There was a girl and a boy who were with my son at the time of the crime. The girl knew my son and I immediately contacted her; she was also under shock and told me everything that she could remember- she had ran for safety and could only add a few more pieces to the puzzle but promised me to get the number of the boy who was also present as witness and who was a remotely acquainted with my son. On Sunday, my son was feeling unwell, his shoulder was hurting and he also had pain in the head and was dizzy. I began to fear that it could be more than just the broken collar bone. On Sunday evening, I finally got the phone number of the boy and, even though it was already quite late, I could reach him. He then told me what exactly happened, and both he and the girl promised to come with me to the police on Monday and to file a complaint against unknown persons. And this is what happened in the night of 26.11.2016, and what the youths also reported as testimony:

In the night of 25. to 26.11, around 4.00am, my 17 year old son of afro-european descent was, together with two friends (a boy from Azerbaijan/Iran and a German girl) at the tram station of the M10 at Hussenstr. Four men (approx. 25-35 years old) joined them and blocked the way of the youths as they wanted to go and get some drinks at the kiosk “we love Späti” . Two men were of medium size (approx. 1,80 m), one of them was wearing jeans, black jacket, and middle sized cap turned upward and underneath Stand London, his hair was shaved- probably bald. There was a very tall man (approx. 2,00m), with short brown hair (6-7cm) and a full beard, black jeans and jacket, and a very small man of approx. 1,60m. the men asked what the boys were doing here with the girl and that they should take the girl home now if they were gentlemen. The girl immediately retreated. The boys had some small talk with the men , but as these were under the influence of alcohol and were acting somewhat strange , they wanted to leave as soon as possible. While the boy was talking to two men, my son was saying goodbye to the other two. That’s when the tall man lifted his arm to do the Hitler greeting and said that this was the way to say goodbye in Germany. My son asked him what this supposed to mean and that this was not okay, and a heated discussion sparked up which quickly got out of control and let to incursions. The boy only saw that my son ran away as fast as he could , but he didn’t see the other man who forcefully pushed him between the parked cars and onto the ground. The other three men joined him and they kicked my son, and although he was lying on the ground and couldn’t get up anymore, they continued to kick him. His friend called out:” Leave him alone, he is already on the ground!” In that moment, a man on a bicycle and his girlfriend passed , the boy cried for help, the bike rider stopped, and the men fled in direction Prenzlauer Allee. The man helped my son to get up , the young girl came back and offered my son money to take a taxi home , but he said, no it’s ok, and walked off. As it was already very late and all the youths were under shock – “it all happened so quickly , we didn’t even recognize how serious the situation was”- and they all went home. from Hussemannstr. to our house, it only takes 10 minutes by tram; it took my son two and a half hours and he cannot remember how he got home. He is now in-patient at the hospital, his head is being examined and he is getting a surgery on his collarbone.

Although my son’s friends made a great effort and explained everything as clearly and detailed as possible, they still cannot exactly remember these men. We would appreciate every piece of information.

The visit at the police station was very sobering. The woman, who recorded the testimonials, was very concerned but we still decided to get matters into our hands. Together with the youths, I drove back to the scene of the crime and asked around in the nearby shops if they maybe had CCTV cameras. The salesman in the Späti shop was very attentive and helpful; on the same weekend, they also had been attacked by three armed men, one of who was strikingly tall. The shop owner promised to look through the CCTV recordings.

The young girl has also told me that verbal attacks on my son because of his skin colour have been accumulating, recently.

I am not a politician, I am only a very concerned mother, who is watching in horror as racially motivated violence in our city, and as far as I can see in our country, is growing. Something has to happen finally, people like this have to be punished- and even racial comments have to be punished more seriously!

All my children have been already often badmouthed and insulted with words like ” Neger, dirty etc.”, and we would hope to think that it is getting better as we have been defending ourselves for years, have been seeking the dialogue with teachers, parents etc.- ad still, I am left with the horrible feeling that racism is presently bursting into bloom and becoming much worse than 5 years ago!!!!

We have to do something and we have to do it together, otherwise no one will listen to us!

Sonja Prinz

Thank you for translation: Reka Kamaromi

GNG President speaking at Black International Cinema Berlin

Sonja Prinz — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:21:53 +0000

“…..What is true of Africa is true of the whole world – real, lasting peace in Europe or elsewhere can never be assured as long as one African is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice……”

Interview at TV in Germany

Sonja Prinz — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:00:02 +0000

Global New Generation (GNG) at a current interview at THE COLLEGIUM Forum & Television Program Berlin .

( Sonja Prinz, Global New Generation, Ben Njogu, Tembo e.V.)

The organization is pursuing sponsorship to aid in meeting its objectives.

(Eleonor and EliJohn Kariuki)

Every step of the day is a move in the right direction, and a step closer to make the world a culturally integrated place as well as an informed civilization.

Press

Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg: 17year old brutally beaten by 4 adult men

GNG President speaking at Black International Cinema Berlin

Interview at TV in Germany