An appeals chamber of the Berlin Regional Court has decided that a violent attack on Jewish student Lahav Shapira, 33, was not antisemitic.
This changes the original ruling from April 2025, in which the judge determined that the assault was motivated by antisemitism.
Mustafa S, 25, was sentenced to three years in prison in April 2025 for dangerous bodily harm with antisemitic motive after he attacked and seriously injured Shapira in front of a bar in Berlin-Mitte on February 2, 2024. Both had known each other from the Free University of Berlin, where they were students.
Police reports at the time said the younger man assaulted Shapira after the pair had argued, while Shapira said there had been no precipitating incident. Mustafa S, experienced in martial arts, hit Shapira in the face with his fist and then kicked him in the face while he was lying on the ground. Shapira suffered severe facial fractures, a brain hemorrhage, and significant eye damage in the assault.
Mustafa S. admitted to the act of violence in the trial, but denied antisemitic motivation for the crime.
However, the appeals chamber on Monday has commuted the prison sentence to two years and six months.
After a total of four days of hearings, the appeals chamber came to the conclusion that the crime was not based on an antisemitic motive. An antisemitic attitude was also not determined.
The court also said that the discovery of anti-Israel material and a pro-Palestinian map in Mustafa S's apartment could not be definitively tied to him or any of his family members.
The appeals court decided the argument between the two men was the precipitating factor for the violent incident.
Judge rules suspended sentence insufficient for attack
The defense had pleaded for a suspended sentence, but the judge ruled that this would not do justice to the severity of the act.
The verdict is not final and can be challenged within one week by means of an appeal on points of law (to the Court of Appeal).
The original case drew close attention in Israel because Shapira is the grandson of Amitzur Shapira, an Israeli athletics coach murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the 1972 Munich Olympics terror attack. Shapira moved to Germany from Israel with his mother and his brother, Shahak Shapira, a prominent comedian and writer, when he was a child.