RTL Today – ‘Racist motivation’: German goes on trial for 1991 refugee home arson attack

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More than 30 years on, a German man on Wednesday went on trial accused of murdering a Ghanian man in an arson attack on a home for asylum seekers.

The defendant, referred to by the court as Peter S., is also facing 20 charges of attempted murder in the case dating back to September 1991.

The accused, who was 20 years old at the time, had a “right-wing extremist and racist motivation” for starting the fire at the asylum seekers’ lodgings in the town of Saarlouis, prosecutors said.

Now 51 years old, the suspect was arrested in April and has since then been held in pre-trial detention. He rejects the charges made against him.

In the early hours of September 19, 1991, Peter S. allegedly poured petrol at the entrance to the refugees’ accommodation before setting light to it.

The fire spread rapidly up the stairwell, engulfing 27-year-old Ghanaian Samuel Yeboah, who died the same day, after suffering serious burns and smoke inhalation.

Two residents saved themselves by jumping out of the window, suffering broken bones. The remaining 18 reached safety uninjured, prosecutors said.

The accused “accepted that residents could be injured and killed due to his contempt for human beings”, state prosecutor Sophie Goessl said at the opening of the trial.

Peter S. was allegedly involved in the skinhead scene around Saarlouis from the early nineties. But he had since left that world behind in 2007, his representatives said.

“This is 30 years in the past and stands in contrast to his life today,” lawyer Guido Britz said.

The case remained unsolved for decades before investigations were restarted two years ago after new evidence was unearthed.

In front of the court, left-wing groups held a rally against the infamous attack being forgotten.

“For the first time Yeboah’s murder will be seriously and professionally investigated,” they said.

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