Life sentence for defendant in Basel double murder trial
Published: Thursday, Apr 25th 2024, 16:50
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The defendant in the Basel double murder trial was sentenced to life imprisonment by the criminal court on Thursday. He was found guilty of shooting two men in a Basel café together with an accomplice in 2017.
It was clear from video recordings and witness testimony that both men had entered the pub with their weapons drawn and left again after firing their shots, said court president Dorrit Schleiminger in her verdict. She judged the defendant's protestations of innocence to be absurd claims. The statements of the accomplice were also seen as incriminating, although his changing statements should be treated with caution.
According to the indictment from the Basel public prosecutor's office, the two men had entered Café 56 on Erlenmattstrasse on the evening of March 9, 2017 with their firearms drawn. Within a short space of time, five shots were fired at three of those present in the café. Two of the men, aged 28 and 40, who according to the indictment were shot as part of an execution, died, while a third survived with serious injuries.
Safety measures necessary
The 53-year-old defendant denied any guilt or complicity in the murders during the trial before the Basel Criminal Court. He was arrested in Holland after his escape and extradited to Basel after serving a prison sentence for cocaine trafficking.
The 48-year-old co-perpetrator, who had already been sentenced to life imprisonment, accused the defendant of having fired the fatal shots. He had recanted a confession he had initially made the day after the crime.
The trial, which was located in the criminal Albanian drug milieu, had taken place under strict security measures.
©Keystone/SDA
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