A 22-year-old Iraqi national living in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a German Jewish teenager.
Ali Bashar, an Iraqi citizen from the Kurdistan region who migrated to Germany in December 2015, was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Juergen Bonk Wednesday, but could be eligible for parole in just 15 years.
Bashar had moved to Germany with his parents and five siblings in 2015 and applied for asylum. While his asylum request had been rejected, Bashar remained in Germany while waiting for a response to his appeal request.
In May 2018, Bashar met with 14-year-old Susanna Feldman, a German Jewish schoolgirl he had met near Mainz, in the woods near Wiesbaden.
During an argument with Feldman, Bashar, who was reportedly intoxicated at the time, raped and beat Feldman before murdering her.
While Bashar, who had a criminal history including charges of raping an 11-year-old girl, admitted to the killing, but denied he had raped Feldman, saying the relations had been consensual. Bashar claimed that he attacked Feldman when she threatened to call the police.
After the murder, Bashar took Feldman’s phone, and sent messages to the victim’s mother in an attempt to convince her that Feldman had left the country.
Bashar fled the country, returning to northern Iraq. He was later extradited back to Germany to stand trial.
Feldman’s remains were found by German authorities only in June 2018, two weeks after her May 23rd disappearance.