Overview

• Three former soldiers entered confessions in open court, with one defense statement describing the actions as a ritualized way of showing beginners how it works.
• Prosecutors have charged four ex-servicemen with rape, dangerous bodily harm, and failure to render assistance tied to two incidents in early 2021 at Julius-Leber-Kaserne.
• The indictment alleges a 35-year-old and a 31-year-old assaulted and raped a younger comrade in a barracks room, while a 36-year-old failed to intervene and took part when six soldiers piled on after the cue "Bombe."
• The now 24-year-old victim testified that he suffers ongoing sleep disorders, nightmares, and panic attacks and said he did not report the assaults at the time.
• One accused could not be located and his case was provisionally suspended, and earlier Defence Ministry searches in a related Wachbataillon extremism probe were later ruled unlawful by the Federal Administrative Court.