Overview
- Jonathan C., wanted under a German arrest warrant, has sent an eight‑page statement to Hamburg prosecutors from Israel, with Bild and Stern reporting that he acknowledged being part of the group that moved the children.
- He says a friend recruited him into a team presented as linked to alleged organizer David Barkay and he believed it was a state‑style rescue, adding that he was promised €10,000 for translation and calming the children.
- The confessed kidnapper Tal S. has said C. struck the children’s father, Stephan Hensel, while C. denies violence or any physical contact with the children in his account.
- C. writes that he realized the mission was likely illegal when police with dogs confronted the group at the Danish–German border, claiming he stepped in front of the children and was bitten.
- Frankfurter Rundschau reports his lawyer says he will not return to Germany because he expects pre‑trial detention, and broader testimony in the case still conflicts on key points including whether Christina Block met the team.