Berlin brothel owners awarded €100,000 over Al Capone comparisons

A Berlin court has ordered the capital’s state government pay €100,000 in damages to two brothel owners after a state prosecutor wrongfully likened them to US gang boss Al Capone.

In an unusual ruling on Tuesday, Berlin superior administrative court criticised the city’s own justice administration for making the false claims - and for refusing to agree to a settlement.

In April 2016, 900 Berlin police and customs officers raided Berlin’s Artemis brothel, one of Europe’s largest, and placed the owners, brothers Hakim and Kenan Simsek, in custody. At a subsequent press conference, a state prosecutor insinuated the owners were involved in organised crime.

After the collapse of several criminal cases against them - over tax and welfare fraud as well human trafficking allegations - the Simsek brothers sued Berlin’s city-state government for damages.

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A lower court dismissed their claim but on Tuesday the state superior court agreed that the brothers’ reputations had been damaged by the remarks which were “contrary to duty, prejudiced and excessively formulated”.

After the ruling, the brothers said “this was never about money but our rights”.

“We wanted that someone recognise that what the illegal actions by the police were wrong,” they added. “With today’s clear ruling we have achieved that.”

Yesterday’s ruling followed a court proposal that lawyers acting for Berlin settle and pay €25,000 to children’s charity Unicef. When the city refused to pay more than €10,000, the court awarded each plaintiff €50,000 as well as nearly €11,000 in interest - which they have promised to donate to a children’s cancer charity.

The court said the compensation award - high by German standards - was justified because the state of Berlin had repeatedly violated the rights of the Artemis owners, including in the most recent trial, and refused to correct its behaviour.

After the ruling, the brothers’ lawyer Ben Irle accused the city of a cavalier attitude towards the law - and with taxpayers’ money.

“Such pig-headed and self-aggrandising behaviour from the justice department is an alarm signal for the rule of law,” he said.

A spokesman for Berlin’s state justice ministry said it did not accept the ruling and was examining the legal hurdles to a final appeal at the federal administrative court.

Located on the western edge of Berlin’s city centre, the Artemis brothel opened in 2005. A year after opening the Simsek brothers said the brothel, spread out over three floors and 3,000sq m, was attracting 250 visitors daily. In 2016 it claimed to have had 110,000 guests.

The 2016 investigation and raid began when a woman who worked at the brothel complained to Berlin police that she had been forced into prostitution at Artemis by her boyfriend, who had links to the Hells Angels gang.

Then and now the owners deny having any links to the gang or other organised crime groups. They insist women who work at the brothel are self-employed.

A frequent advertiser throughout the city, including on buses, Artemis has been picketed regularly by women’s groups.