02:26Germany: Migrant gets life sentence for murdering German student
Migrant Hussein Khavari was convicted of raping and murdering a German student in October 2016 and given life sentence in a district court in Freiburg on Thursday.
Khavari, who claims to be from Afghanistan, has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison, for the murder of 19-year-old medical student Maria Ladenburger in the university town of Freiburg, in October 2016.
Ladenburger was cycling home from a party when she was choked, raped and left to drown on the bank of a river.
Khavari's lawyer, Sebastian Glathe, declared two hours after the court ruling that he will appeal on behalf of his clien on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and asserts that Khavari had consumed copious amounts of alcohol and drugs before carrying out the crime.
After his arrest, it emerged that Khavari had previously been convicted in 2014 to 10 years in prison for attempted murder, but was freed in 2015 due to overcrowded prisons.
Khavari arrived in Germany in 2015 during a mass influx of refugees to the country, and claimed to be 17 years old. However, expert analysis has put his age between 22 and 29.
The murder added to the backlash against German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open door" refugee policy during the European migrant crisis.
02:26Migrant Hussein Khavari was convicted of raping and murdering a German student in October 2016 and given life sentence in a district court in Freiburg on Thursday.
Khavari, who claims to be from Afghanistan, has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison, for the murder of 19-year-old medical student Maria Ladenburger in the university town of Freiburg, in October 2016.
Ladenburger was cycling home from a party when she was choked, raped and left to drown on the bank of a river.
Khavari's lawyer, Sebastian Glathe, declared two hours after the court ruling that he will appeal on behalf of his clien on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and asserts that Khavari had consumed copious amounts of alcohol and drugs before carrying out the crime.
After his arrest, it emerged that Khavari had previously been convicted in 2014 to 10 years in prison for attempted murder, but was freed in 2015 due to overcrowded prisons.
Khavari arrived in Germany in 2015 during a mass influx of refugees to the country, and claimed to be 17 years old. However, expert analysis has put his age between 22 and 29.
The murder added to the backlash against German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open door" refugee policy during the European migrant crisis.