Six weeks after the mass sex assaults on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, the number of reported incidents continues to rise and has now surpassed 1,000.
Ulrich Bremer of the Cologne public prosecutor’s office told German daily Die Welt they had “so far received 1,054 complaints” from the night. Almost half of those (454) are for sexual assault, while a further 372 are reported thefts.
Mr Bremer added that the total number of victims now stood at 1,108 – the number of victims being higher as some people sought police help together. Only one complaint has so far been discovered to be unfounded.
Police have identified 59 suspects, the majority of whom are of Moroccan or Algerian origin. Only 13 people have been detained, however.
Police documents from the night show the majority of incidents happened between 11pm and 1am, with two thirds of incidents happening around the train station and on the station forecourt. Police started to evacuate the station around midnight, but the situation did not calm down for at least another hour.
Despite the huge amount of crime taking place that night, Cologne police put out a press release the following morning saying there had been a “lively atmosphere” at the New Year’s Eve celebrations, but the night had been “largely peaceful”.
However, police had already received over 100 complaints by the time that press release was issued, leading to serious questions as to their judgment.
The Cologne Public Prosecutor’s office says that among the accused are 25 are Algerians, 21 Moroccans, three Tunisians, three Germans, and two Syrians. They include minors and adolescents, as well as asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
So far no one has actually been convicted of any crimes on New Year’s Eve. A Moroccan and an Algerian will go before the Cologne district court on 24 February, but only for stealing a camera.
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