Margot Overath – Book of the Oury Jalloh case: “Burnt in the police cell”

“At no time since the fire event, I have seen as a secure knowledge and still do not see today as a secure knowledge that Oury Jalloh himself laid the fire, although this was also not criticized by the Magdeburg Regional Court, was noted by the Federal Court of Justice.” This sentence wrote this sentence at the time in a file note on March 3, 2015.

Ten years earlier – on January 7, 2005 – the Oury Jalloh, from Sierra Leone, was burned in a cell of the Dessau police custody on his hands and feet. Ten years later, the official version had prevailed in large parts of the media: Jalloh had laid the fire in the cell itself.

However, the small migrant group of friends and acquaintances of the dead never accepted this explanation. They organized rallies and demonstrations in Halle and other cities, collected money for independent reports and thus ensured that the official presentation stuck massively.

Since 2005 there have been few journalists who did not simply take over the police version. This included radio journalist Margot Overath. From the beginning, she listened to the friend and acquaintances of Jalloh and studied the files thoroughly. She drew attention to the numerous contradictions in the official explanation early on – which she now explains comprehensively and expertly in her book.

So she begins with the fact that Jalloh’s detention was illegal. It also goes into the alleged lighter again, with which the fire is said to have been placed – which was not found in the cell. Overath lectures on the results of various fire attempts, which were commissioned by the supporters of Jallohs at their own expense. It also shows that even within the judiciary, doubts about self -inflammation were loud.

In addition, overath also goes into two other people who lost their lives after their delivery to the Dessau police station: Hans-Jürgen Rose and Mario Bichtemann. Both died with serious injuries, for which no one has been held responsible. They were talked about again after prosecutor Folker Bittmann developed a scenario in 2018 that emergency services in the Dessau police station could have laid the fire – not only to cover up abuse, but also not to have to roll up the other two unexplained deaths. But the Attorney General hired the proceedings.

The legal process in Germany is therefore exploited. However, the public debate continues – also thanks to committed journalists like Margot Overath. Overath received numerous prizes for their features at ARD and ZDF. In 2021 she was awarded the “German Podcast Prize” for her series “Oury Jalloh and the dead of the Dessau police station”. Now she has under the title “Burned in the police cell” A 281-page book presented in the Metropol Verlag, which documented with numerous evidence of how to provide the state’s clarification systematically.

But Overath’s book is not only meticulous research, but also a document of courage and civil courage. It was the small migrant group in Dessau with acquaintances and friends of Oury Jalloh, who had fought tirelessly for education since January 7, 2005.

Overath describes how the group not only hostile to neo -Nazis and parts of the population, but was also criminalized by the police – and still did not be intimidated. Jalloh’s friend Mouctar Bah played a central role. As a tireless organizer, he made contacts to political groups and was therefore particularly targeted by the police. During a demonstration for the investigation of the death of Oury Jalloh, he was injured by a police officer and had to go to the hospital.

In an afterword, Bah describes how the dealings with him in Dessau have changed in recent years: “This undisguised racism has remained until about 2011. Since then, a lot has changed.” Nowadays, he was also treated in a friendly manner by the police and authorities when he registers demonstrations and rallies. But BAH also concludes his contribution with a combative announcement: »The family needs an apology. And we, the friends, also need education. … we will not give peace until the wish is fulfilled. ”

Margot Overath: burned in the police cell. The prevented clarification of Oury Jalloh’s death in the Dessau police station, Metropol-Verlag, 281 p., € 22.