Moroccan on trial for German sex assault 

Germany put a 33-year-old Moroccan on trial for sexual assault Monday, the first man accused over a spate of such attacks at New Year’s celebrations that shocked the country.
The defendant, who entered the Duesseldorf courtroom hiding his face under a blue jacket, allegedly groped a woman while he and some 15 to 20 other men encircled and also assaulted her.
The 18-year-old woman told the court of her panic as the man and countless others touched her inappropriately and grabbed her in a terrifying mob attack.
She said she later identified the defendant from unrelated television footage screened in a “Spiegel TV” news reportage on pickpockets in the city of Duesseldorf.
Germany was appalled by the wave of sexual assaults and other crimes targeting women on New Year’s Eve, mainly in Cologne but also in several other cities including Duesseldorf, where police received 118 criminal complaints.
Prosecutor Laura De Bruyn said that “the accused and his accomplices encircled and trapped the young woman and repeatedly touched her breasts and nether areas.
“The injured party has said that she was watching a television report in which the defendant gave an interview about a different matter,” said De Bruyn. She clearly recognized him as the perpetrator and decided to file charges.”
Source: Arab News