Germans honour slain 'role model' Tugce Albayrak

 

 

 Tugce Albayrak was beaten to death for defending two women who were being harassed, as Laura Westbrook reports

Tributes are being paid in Germany to student Tugce Albayrak who was killed after defending two teenage girls reportedly being harassed by a group of men.

Around 150 people attended a vigil in Berlin in her memory on Sunday.
President Joachim Gauck has described the student as a "role model".
A man, 18, is in custody over the 15 November attack, which left Ms Albayrak in a coma. Her life support was switched off on Friday.
She had intervened when she heard cries for help from the toilet of a fast food restaurant in the town of Offenbach, near Frankfurt, where the two girls were being harassed, German media report.
Later, one of the men returned and attacked her in the car park, striking her head with a stone or a bat.
Her parents made the decision to turn off life support on her 23rd birthday when doctors told them she would never regain consciousness and was brain-dead.

 

 

A card from a 10-year-old girl left outside the hospital in Offenbach on Sunday reads: "Dear Tugce, I admire your courage. You are a hero. Rest in peace."

A petition calling for Ms Albayrak to be awarded the national order for merit posthumously has gathered over 100,000 signatures.
Confirming he would consider the award, President Mr Gauck wrote to her family to say: "Like countless citizens, I am shocked and appalled by this terrible act. Tugce has earned gratitude and respect from us all.
"She will always remain a role model to us, our entire country mourns with you.
"Where other people looked the other way, Tugce showed exemplary courage and moral fortitude."
Before Sunday's "civil courage" vigil on Oranienplatz in Berlin, tributes were paid in Offenbach, with people holding signs which read "Thank you, Tugce".
Oranienplatz is in the heart of Berlin's Kreuzberg district, which has a large Turkish community. Ms Albayrak, who was from the town of Gelnhausen, also near Frankfurt, was Turkish by origin.
Her attacker, named only as Senal M from the Sandzak region of Serbia, has confessed to striking Ms Albayrak,

 

 

Germany mourns death of courageous Tugce

 

 

Twenty-three-year-old Tugce A., who was punched when she came to the aid of two threatened girls, has died from head trauma. German President Joachim Gauck expressed his condolences in a letter to her family. 

The brain-dead girl's life support systems were turned off Friday evening, a police spokesperson in Offenbach told German press agency DPA, confirming reports from German public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk. It was Tugce's 23rd birthday.

Tugce A., a German citizen of Turkish origin, was the victim of a violent attack earlier this month. Reports indicate the student from Gelnhausen intervened on behalf of two girls who were being harassed by three males near the restroom area of a McDonald's restaurant.

Thereafter, and in circumstances that have yet to be clarified, the scene shifted to the fast food restaurant's car park, where an 18-year-old male punched her, causing her to fall and hit her head on a stone. It was the latter blow which is said to have caused the fatal brain injury.

Germany

Germany mourns death of courageous Tugce

Twenty-three-year-old Tugce A., who was punched when she came to the aid of two threatened girls, has died from head trauma. German President Joachim Gauck expressed his condolences in a letter to her family.

Tugce A. loses battle for life

The brain-dead girl's life support systems were turned off Friday evening, a police spokesperson in Offenbach told German press agency DPA, confirming reports from German public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk. It was Tugce's 23rd birthday.

Tugce A., a German citizen of Turkish origin, was the victim of a violent attack earlier this month. Reports indicate the student from Gelnhausen intervened on behalf of two girls who were being harassed by three males near the restroom area of a McDonald's restaurant.

Thereafter, and in circumstances that have yet to be clarified, the scene shifted to the fast food restaurant's car park, where an 18-year-old male punched her, causing her to fall and hit her head on a stone. It was the latter blow which is said to have caused the fatal brain injury.

An Internet petition signed by 64,000 is asking the German government to honor Tugce with the Federal Order of Merit; Hessen's state premier Volker Bouffier has announced his intention to propose her for that honor. President Gauck said on Saturday he would check whether Tugce could be awarded the order. In a letter to her family, he wrote that Tugce would always be remembered as a person to look up to: "Our whole country is mourning with you."

In a first interrogation, Tugce's attacker, reported to be Senal M., from the Muslim Sandzak region of Serbia, admitted to striking the girl. Since then he has maintained silence as he awaits trial. Prosecutors are investigating the case under planned charges of assault resulting in unintentional manslaughter.

One open question is the fate of the two girls Tugce intervened to help: Police are searching for them as key witnesses.

McDonald's, facing criticism from Tugce's family, has reviewed videotapes of the incident and defended the original non-intervention of its employees.

Throughout Germany, Tugce's death has ignited a debate on civic courage in daily life. On television, radio and particularly social media, many are questioning whether they would have had the courage to intervene - and by extension, whether Germans today are as courageous in such circumstances as they should be.

Using the hashtag #Zivilcourage, tens of thousands have mourned the young girl's early death and commended her act of bravery. A Facebook page in her memorial also has 87,000 supporters.