Man receives 20 years in prison for the murder of his wife
Published: Wednesday, Nov 29th 2023, 14:20
العودة إلى البث المباشر
An Afghan national was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of his wife by the regional court in Biel on Wednesday. He stabbed the woman 165 times in the presence of the couple's five children. The husband acted out of jealousy.
The Bernese Jura-Seeland Regional Court also imposed a 15-year ban from the country. The murder took place in 2022 in accommodation for asylum seekers in Büren an der Aare, Bern. The 38-year-old victim, also an Afghan national, had expressed the wish to separate from her husband.
The action was incredibly cowardly and vile, said court president Marguerite Ndiaye. Moreover, there was no remorse. It was a terrible death, the president continued, emphasizing that the man had targeted the woman's face in order to disfigure her.
Statements from the children
In reaching its verdict, the five-member panel of judges relied on the testimony of the eldest children, who were witnesses to the entire scene. "The court can only believe the children's statements," said Judge Ndiaye. The children's statements were confirmed by the testimony of three asylum seekers at the center.
In contrast, the statements of the defendant, who spoke in Dari, were difficult to understand and sometimes even "adventurous". "He presented five to six versions of the facts," the president noted. Only his DNA was found on the handle of the bread knife.
The defendant had severely injured his hands when stabbing himself with the knife, with his hands slipping off the handle and the blade. Only when he could no longer hold the weapon due to his own injuries did he stop stabbing his wife.
However, the panel of judges did not believe that the crime was premeditated. The bread knife had been bought several weeks earlier and the defendant would have bought a more suitable knife. However, the panel considers it proven that the argument broke out because the wife wanted a divorce.
Verdict corresponds to the indictment
The court therefore followed the prosecutor's plea, which called for a prison sentence of 20 years. However, it rejected the defense's argument that the defendant had acted in self-defense without being able to identify the person against whom he had allegedly defended himself that night and who was his wife.
The family had fled Afghanistan and arrived in Greece in 2019. They then traveled to Switzerland to apply for asylum. The family received a negative decision.
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