Arid Uka
Arid Uka, born 8 February 1990 in Mitrovicë, Kosovo) is a Muslim Kosovo Albanian from Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. On 2 March 2011 he committed an assassination attempt at Frankfurt Airport. He murdered two US soldiers and injured two others severely. This incident is considered as first accomplished assassination attempt in Germany with an islamist background.[1][2][3][4]
Assassination
Shouting Allahu akbar („God is great“) Uka fired with a pistol on unarmed US soldiers and the driver of a bus of the military services who waited at a terminal of Frankfurt Airport.[5][6][7][8] The bus was meant as a shuttle service for US soldiers who were just landed. The soldiers were formerly stationed at Lakenheath Airbase in UK and should have been forwarded to Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The first soldiers had already boarded the bus, others still waited to do so. Uka first shot a soldier of US Air Force aside the bus then the bus driver behind the steering wheel. Uka entered the bus and aimed on sitting and hiding soldiers who were not able to flee. He shot on heads and bodies of two soldiers who were severely wounded. Then his pistol had a jam so he was not able to shoot on a fifth person who tried to cover himself between seat rows. Uka left the bus and tried to flee through the terminal to hide in the crowd of people. Two persons, his proposed fifth target in the bus, Sergeant Trevor Brewer, and a security person of US origin, Lamar Connor, followed him. Inside the terminal German Bundespolizei was able to catch the assassin. Brewer and Connor later were honoured with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Catalyst
Due to the giving of evidence of Arid Uka, the catalyst for the decision to attempt an assassination of US soldiers was a video-clip of Youtube which showed a rape of Muslim women by US soldiers. German investigations and the trial found that this video-clip was fiction, part of a US-American movie. Uka took it as reality.
In the web Arid Uka (alias name "Abu Reyyan" = Guard of heaven's gate) used several relevant islamist forums where he participated with postings. He claimed that through the content and the discussions in these forums he came to the belief that his muslim fellows were in global war with the United States.[9][10][11]
Trial
The defendant's lawyer described Uka as a non-typical violent criminal who is neither religiously motivated nor an islamist terrorist. The Attorney General of Germany ranks Arid Uka as a single perpetrator. It was applied for a sentence of life plus a finding of "exceptional gravity of guilt".[12] In Germany a lifelong sentence means 15 years of prison. If the court rules out an "exceptional gravity of guilt" the murderer cannot be set free after this term but apply for parol after 18 years. Then the case will be checked over.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The Hessian High Court (Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main) decided on 10 February 2012 to act on the applications filed by the Attorney General of Germany. Uka was sentenced to life and an "exceptional gravity of guilt" was ruled out. After his term Uka may be extradited to Kosovo since he owns no German citizenship.
Audio on Demand
- Ich wollte mich rächen. In: Hessischer Rundfunk, 10. Februar 2012 (3:00 Min.) auf: hr-online.de (in German)
Video on Demand
- Der Fall Arid Uka. In: Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cosmo, 15. Januar 2012 (7:14 Min.) auf: wdr.de (in German)
- Arid U. – Unbemerkte Radikalisierung. Im: ZDF, 10. Februar 2012 (2:56 Min.) auf: zdf.de (in German)
References
- ^ Zwei US-Soldaten am Flughafen erschossen. In: Hessischer Rundfunk, 2. März 2011 auf: hr-online.de (in German)
- ^ Lebenslange Haft für Flughafenattentäter. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10. Februar 2012 auf: faz.net (in German)
- ^ Lebenslang für Frankfurter Flughafenattentäter. In: ZDF, heute-Nachrichten, 10. Februar 2012 auf: heute.de (in German)
- ^ This is my favourite killer outfit. In: Daily Mail, 4. März 2011 auf: dailymail.co.uk (in English)
- ^ Zwei US-Soldaten am Flughafen erschossen. In: Hessischer Rundfunk, 2. März 2011 auf: hr-online.de (in German)
- ^ Lebenslang für Flughafen-Attentäter. In: Hessischer Rundfunk, 10. Februar 2012 auf: hr-online.de (in German)
- ^ Flughafen-Attentäter muss lebenslang hinter Gitter. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10. Februar 2012 auf: sueddeutsche.de (in German)
- ^ Islamistischer Anschlag: Lebenslang für Frankfurter Flughafenattentäter. In: Focus, 10. Februar 2012 auf: focus.de (in German)
- ^ Lebenslange Haftstrafe für Frankfurter Flughafen-Attentäter. In: Der Spiegel, 10. Februar 2012 auf: spiegel.de (in German)
- ^ Frankfurter Flughafen-Attentäter erhält lebenslange Haft. In: Der Tagesspiegel, 10. Februar 2012 auf: spiegel.de (in German)
- ^ Frankfurter Flughafen-Attentäter bekommt lebenslänglich. In: Die Zeit, 10. Februar 2012 auf: zeit.de (in German)
- ^ Pressemitteilung des Generalbundesanwalts vom 7. Juli 2011 auf: generalbundesanwalt.de (in German)
- ^ Flughafen-Attentäter verurteilt: Lebenslänglich für Arid U. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 10. Februar 2012 auf: fr-online.de (in German)
- ^ Lebenslang für Frankfurter Flughafenattentäter. In: Deutsche Welle, 10. Februar 2012 auf: dw.de (in German)
- ^ Lebenslang für Todesschützen vom Flughafen Frankfurt In: Stern, 10. Februar 2012 auf: stern.de (in German)
- ^ Frankfurter Flughafenattentäter: Uka bekommt Lebenslang. In: n-tv, 10. Febraur 2012 auf: n-tv.de (in German)
- ^ Arid Uka, Frankfurt Airport Shooter, Sentenced To Life. In: Huffington Post, 10. Februar 2012 auf: huffingtonpost.com (in English)
- ^ German court sentences US airmen's killer, Islamic extremist Arid Uka, to life in prison. In: abc news, 10. Februar 2012 auf: abcactionnews.com (in English)