Following the “honor killing” of 15-year-old Ronja in Rhineland-Palatinate, the defense attorney for the imprisoned father Hassan M. (39) has spoken out for the first time. Attorney Christian Zinzow explains to FOCUS online what the accused from Afghanistan told the police.
In the case of the “honor killing” of 15-year-old Ronja in Worms (Rhineland-Palatinate), the accused father Hassan M. (39) has made serious allegations against his wife Maryam M. (34), according to exclusive information from FOCUS online.
He also admitted to the police that his motive for the crime was dissatisfaction with his daughter’s “lifestyle”. The family comes from Afghanistan and has been living in Germany for several years.
“In his statement to the criminal police, which lasted several hours, my client made very strong accusations against his wife in direct connection with the killing,” Hassan M.’s public defender Christian Zinzow from Pirmasens told FOCUS online this Friday. Further investigations will have to show to what extent this is true.
“The fact that both parents are in custody suggests that both were involved in the killing,” the specialist criminal lawyer continued. “My client has described in detail what happened from his perspective. And of course he was involved, otherwise he would not be able to testify.”
Hassan M. admitted to investigators “that he was on the banks of the Rhine in Worms, where his daughter’s body was later found,” said his lawyer. “He made this statement during the interrogation, and that is correct.”
However, the defense attorney does not want the statement of 39-year-old Hassan M., who is incarcerated in Frankenthal Correctional Facility, to be viewed as a “partial confession” or even a “confession.” “That would be going a step too far for me,” Christian Zinzow told FOCUS online.
The decisive criterion – also for the legal assessment – is the contribution each of the accused made to the crime. “It will have to be clarified who did what.” Regarding the motive for the crime, the lawyer said: “It is true that the father was not happy with his daughter’s lifestyle.”
The mother’s lawyer, Victoria C. Koch from Mainz, did not want to comment to FOCUS online on the father’s allegations.
The body of 15-year-old Ronja M. was found shortly after 6 p.m. on Monday on the banks of the Rhine in Worms, around 120 kilometers from her home. That morning, the mother reported to the Pirmasens police station and expressed the suspicion that her daughter might have been killed on Saturday evening.
The Mainz criminal police finally discovered the dead teenager in the Rheindürkheim district. The father was arrested shortly afterwards. The mother was also suspected of the crime because she apparently got involved in massive contradictions with the police. Both were taken into custody.
The autopsy of the body revealed that the teenager died “by drowning.” At least, that was what the authorities’ official statements said.
However, according to research by FOCUS online, the forensic findings contain further shocking details that suggest the use of massive violence.
“Bleeding in the neck muscles and hematomas in the upper body and extremities were found,” confirmed senior public prosecutor Alexander Fassel from the Mainz public prosecutor’s office on Thursday in response to a request from FOCUS online. In other words: Ronja could have been strangled and beaten.
According to the entries in the Central Register of Foreigners, the accused father entered Germany for the first time in 2016 and the accused mother in 2015. Hassan M. has a residence permit. Maryam M. has a settlement permit.
According to Alexander Fassel, the two accused were remanded in custody for manslaughter. “There is currently no strong suspicion of murder.” However, it will have to be examined “whether the murder criterion of ‘base motives’ is met,” said Fassel.
