Cologne (dpa / lnw) - Because an explosives dog struck in front of the Cologne justice center, an alarm was triggered on Tuesday morning. According to a district court spokesman, several processes began late. A police spokesman said in the morning that the defusers who had been summoned gave the all-clear after a short time. The planned trials were to begin soon thereafter. The dog barked at a flower pot in front of the building. However, no explosives were found at the site. "There was nothing," said the police spokesman.
The regional court spokesman had previously confirmed an "alarm situation" in the high-rise building on Luxemburger Straße, which is home to the Cologne district and regional court. "It is currently not possible to bring detainees to the screening room," the spokesman said during the alarm. The screening room is the house jail in the basement of the justice center, where the accused in custody await their trial.
Because of the alarm, there was also a delay in the start of the process in the Wermelskirchen case. In the process, a 45-year-old is accused of multiple sexual abuse of children. In addition, an oral hearing in the event of a claim for damages by a person affected by abuse against the Archdiocese of Cologne is scheduled for Tuesday. In the case, a 62-year-old is demanding more than 700,000 euros in compensation for suffering sexualized violence by a priest in the 1970s. In addition, a day of negotiations in the trial for particularly serious robbery and attempted murder against Reemtsma kidnapper Thomas Drach has been scheduled.
