A 27-year-old woman is currently on trial after she reportedly assaulted a middle-aged Jewish woman after a lecture on antisemitism in Hamburg, Germany, local media reported on Tuesday.
German media outlet taz reported that the defendant, Ayan M., continually berated co-plantiff Elisabeth S., who was 56 at the time, after her husband gave a University of Hamburg lecture on antisemitism some 10 months ago. According to the indictment, she repeatedly called the plaintiff a “hideous witch” and threatened to punch her in the face, taz reported.
After she was repeatedly insulted, the plaintiff threatened to film the defendant. Ayan M. then repeatedly struck and strangled the plaintiff. Elisabeth sustained mild injuries after the encounter; she had bruising in several places on her body and strangulation marks around her neck, and her glasses were broken.
The defendant was also being investigated for assaulting police officers. Two days after the reported attack after the lecture occurred, she attended the university’s “Hands off Rafah” protest, where she reportedly punched an officer in the mouth, bit another officer’s hand, and spat in a third officer’s face. She is also accused of insulting multiple other officers and reportedly called the police “f***ing racist cops,” among other things.
Courtroom proceedings
On the first day of the trial, the defendant did not make a statement, and her lawyer accused local media of prejudging his client, taz reported. He said that he would present a video of the incident at a later date that proved his client’s innocence.
Two witnesses who had attended the lecture testified to the court that they could not confirm the exact wording of the insults the defendant used. Both stated that they did not hear Ayan M. insult Elisabeth S..
One witness told the court that there was one insult that prompted the plaintiff to begin filming the defendant. According to the witness, Elisabeth S. asked Ayan M. to repeat something she’d previously said. The defendant then allegedly grabbed her phone, and both women fell to the ground. The witness learned later that the defendant had hit and strangled the plaintiff.
The defense questioned the plaintiff’s “political-religious views” because her attorney mentioned that he was a member of Friends of Yad Vashem, which supports the Jerusalem-based memorial museum. The presiding judge objected to the question and told the defense that it was irrelevant to the case, taz reported.
The plaintiff has yet to testify, and the case will have its final hearing in May.
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