Dutch man sentenced to prison for rioting at G20 summit
A German court sentenced 21-year-old Peike S. from Amsterdam to 2 years and 7 months in prison for his involvement in riots around the G20 summit in Hamburg last month. He was found guilty of severe bodily injury, seriously disrupting the peace and resisting arrest, ANP reports.
According to the charges, S. hit a police officers with two thrown bottles and vehemently resisted arrest while taking part in the "Welcome to Hell" demonstration in Hamburg on July 6th. The court decided this deserves a harsher punishment than the Prosecutor, who demanded 1 year and 9 months in prison against S.
S. said nothing during his trial. The officer he pelted with bottles did testify. He was hit in the head and leg with the bottles. According to the Berlin cop, he felt a blow to his helmet, but it did not hurt him enough that he could not continue with his duties. He managed to arrest S. himself, despite the Amsterdam man's resistance.
The high sentence imposed on S. came as somewhat of a surprise, according to ANP. A punishment of less than two years in prison was expected, as the case was handled by a police court. In his motivation, the judge acknowledged that assailants of police officers usually come off more mercifully, but added that the police are absolutely not free targets for sensational violence.
The German Public Prosecutor charged a total of 109 persons for involvement in the riots around the G20 summit, including a 33-year-old from Nijmegen. It is not yet clear when his case will appear. The judiciary is also investigating 64 as yet unidentified suspects.
