Cannibal, Prosecutors Launch Rival Appeals
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - A German cannibal and prosecutors launched rival appeals at Germany's top criminal court Wednesday against his manslaughter conviction for killing and eating a willing victim.
Armin Meiwes was sentenced to eight and a half years in January 2004 after a gory case that both fascinated and repulsed Germany and the world.
Meiwes admitted to killing a Berlin computer specialist, Bernd-Juergen B, he met via the Internet, but was spared a murder verdict as the victim had asked to be eaten in a startling case of sexual fetishism.
Meiwes recorded the deed on video tape and shocked the court with his matter-of-fact account of how he severed the man's penis at the latter's request, and how they both tried to eat it, first raw and then fried in a saucepan.
Prosecutors believe the initial ruling and sentence were inadequate and said they wanted judges to convict Meiwes of murder as he had killed his victim to satisfy perverted desires.
"For the accused, it was only about fulfilling his fetish for human flesh," state prosecutor Lothar Senge told Germany's Federal Court of Justice.
"He will kill again if he gets the chance," he said.
Meiwes' lawyer Harald Ermel instead urged a conviction on the lesser charge of "killing on request," a form of illegal euthanasia that carries a maximum five year sentence.
Both Meiwes and prosecutors want the case sent back to a lower court.
The Federal Criminal Court will give its verdict on April 22. If it does refer the case back, it would likely indicate whether the initial ruling was too lenient or too harsh.
Ermel told the court that Meiwes, who was not present, was intelligent and would not commit the same mistake again.
"You can assume that he has learned," he said.
He added that Meiwes' sole motive was to carry out the wishes of his victim, rather than due to other "base motives."
"Meiwes was the man who satisfied desires. He was always the one who did what the others wanted," he said.
The victim had ended his life with a "beautiful death" according to his wishes, Ermel said.
"Mr B. took part in his own killing and was the driving force of the whole thing," Ermel said.
A German filmmaker announced plans last year to make a movie about the German cannibal. With the working title "Your Heart in my Brain," it has already received funding from a regional film foundation.
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The defense lawyer argued that his client, known as the "cannibal of Rotenburg", should get off lightly because his victim had been willing to die and be eaten.
He said that the cannibal could only be prosecuted on a charge of assisted suicide, which would carry a maximum prison term of five years. His victim, identified in the case only as Bernd-Jürgen B., volunteered to be killed after answering an Internet ad placed by 42-year-old Meiwes seeking "young men for real slaughter and consumption."
the german cannibal appeals
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