A Berlin court convicted a 19-year-old Syrian on Monday of serious bodily harm and slander for attacking a man wearing a kippah in the German capital in April.
The 21-year-old victim, an Arab Israeli who said he wore the kippah in a show of solidarity with his Jewish friends, filmed his attacker whipping him violently with a belt while shouting “Yahudi!” — Jew in Arabic.
Berlin’s regional court sentenced the defendant, who was not named due to privacy rules, to four weeks of juvenile detention, which he has already served while awaiting trial.
During the trial, the defendant admitted whipping the victim with a belt but said he regretted the assault and apologised to the victim.
Testifying in German and Arabic through a translator, the defendant — who came to Germany in 2015 seeking asylum — told the court he had smoked marijuana before the incident.
The defendant turned himself in two days after the assault. He was tried as a juvenile, which is possible under German law if a person is under 21 and considered immature.
In a separate incident, police in the western city of Dortmund appealed Monday for witnesses after a 21-year-old Jewish man was allegedly attacked and insulted by three neo-Nazis.
