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The man, who destroyed the lives of five young women within two years, accepted the verdict with an almost motionless expression.
Wisam BB has to be imprisoned for 13 years and 6 months, the Berlin criminal court ruled.
The jury around the presiding judge Denise Wittkopf saw it as proven that the 33-year-old Iraqi raped at least five women in Berlin.
Other men were also involved in some of the acts - up to four.
In addition, there were physical injuries and hostage-taking, because one of the women was held in an apartment for several hours.
Wisam BB acted insidiously and acted particularly cruelly, she said in her reasoning for the verdict: "You have incapacitated these women and denied them their worth as human beings." Whether Wisam BB has to be in preventive detention will have to be decided after the end of the term of detention.
The court suspended the order.
The defense had demanded acquittal.
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Wisam BB's trial was a trial that had the constant question of whether some of the cases could have been prevented had someone drawn the right conclusions.
Even after the reconstruction, it seems incomprehensible how such a series of rape could take place.
A black car, several men, young women - nevertheless, according to previous knowledge, the police did not establish a connection between the individual cases.
Perhaps it was also due to the lack of public attention, unlike the gang rapes in Freiburg or Düsseldorf, journalists rarely came to the trial, there were hardly any spectators.
In the course of the process it became clear again and again how Wisam BB increased the cruelty of his deeds, the intervals between which were also shortened.
Between 2018 and 2020, the father of three, who came to Germany in 2015 and initially lived in a refugee shelter, raped two women in Berlin in his apartment.
His first victim was his brother's ex-girlfriend, who was only 14 years old.
A year later he raped a young Finnish woman who, out of pity for him and his escape story, went to his house after a night in the pub.
When he tried to sleep with her, she said "No" in English and struggled, he raped her.
Chasing women in the car
A year later, Wisam BB left the refugee shelter with a friend.
The men of a young Australian woman and her boyfriend lurked in front of a pub, disguising their car as a taxi.
Then they threw the young woman's boyfriend out of the car and raped her one by one in the back seat.
A few days later, the tourist traveled back to her home country.
The act was not charged at first, it is now being charged to the second man, who has to answer in a separate trial.
The Australian testified as a witness during the trial via video link.
From the judge's point of view, this was a crucial point in the series: "That this act had no consequences may have triggered the feeling in you that you can simply take a wife."
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Five months later, Wisam BB went hunting for young women again with the same friend.
In January 2020, they dragged a high school graduate into the black car on her way home at night.
After the men raped her one after the other in the car, they drove to Wisam BB's younger brother's apartment in Berlin-Spandau.
There they held the 18-year-old for four hours and repeatedly raped her, threatening to bring in more men.
The defendant's friend told the young woman that they would kill her and continued to abuse her until they threw the woman on the street that morning, seriously injured.
Only five weeks later, Wisam was hunting BB again, this time with three other friends.
The four men, including the one previously involved, lurked in the car in front of the “Berghain” in Berlin-Friedrichshain.
They pulled in the 21-year-old who was just on her way to the club.
They forcibly administered three ecstasy pills to her and raped her several times in the car for over four hours.
When she tried to fight back, one of the perpetrators bit her hand.
The scar is still visible today.
Victims suffer from trauma
The two women who were raped by the men's groups are still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders and are receiving therapeutic treatment.
But she and the other victims would never be able to go through life "optimistically and happily" again, the judge made it clear: "They have destroyed the lives of women that had just started," said Wittkopf to the defendant, who was hers Stared motionless, even with her further words.
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It was completely unclear to her what would have to happen for someone to become such an “unscrupulous perpetrator” as Wisam BB.
Even from its unclear past in Iraq, no answer to this question can be found.
He had shown no remorse and no empathy, not during the entire process, at best self-pity.
Although he was questioned twice after the first offense and had to hand over DNA samples, he continued to hunt women.
“It wasn't just about the sexual drive.
They have a sadistic feeling of domination over women and are free from compassion, ”said the judge, referring to the psychiatric report.
Wittkopf made some remarkably critical statements about the process and the police investigation.
"Money and a lack of staff hindered the investigation," she told the Berlin State Criminal Police Office.
“This was very difficult for the court to find out.” With such dire deeds, it would be important to prevent further ones.
She was referring to delayed testing of DNA samples.
The lawyers of the co-plaintiffs had already criticized in advance that DNA samples had been evaluated and assigned too late.
An investigation group was also not founded, as WELT research shows.
On request, the LKA stated that the cases had been "in the hands of a clerk".
Process was an "imposition"
Judge Wittkopf finally classified the scope of the trial, for which 59 witnesses testified and four experts were heard.
It was an "imposition" for everyone involved.
"None of us have seen or heard anything worse in our professional careers," said Wittkopf.
By lying in court and denying his actions, Wisam BB forced the women to have to go through everything again with their statements.
The four young women had come that day with their families and friends.
The youngest of the women cried while the verdict was given, she sat alone next to her lawyer and kept hiding her face in her hands.
After the verdict, the women stood in front of the door of room 504 with their lawyers for a long time, spoke in hushed words, and hugged their relatives.
The lawyer of the co-plaintiff Barbara Petersen spoke of an "appropriate and well-founded judgment".
But that doesn't stop the suffering for women.
Two of them have to testify again, because in a few weeks the trial against Wisam BB's friend will begin