The public only gets a brief glimpse of the process on this day.

The accused are sitting in large room 300 of the Hamburg district court, they have pulled a hood over their heads or are holding staplers in front of their faces as long as the photographers are still in the room.

When they have left the room, the presiding judge explains who has come together, the public prosecutor's office, the joint plaintiffs, experts and interpreters.

It is briefly clarified on which channel the Arabic translation can be heard.

Then there are the motions to exclude the public.

A little later this is decided.

Matthias Wysuwa

Political correspondent for northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.

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In the next few months, a trial will be held behind closed doors in Hamburg on a case that had upset the city.

It is about the allegation of mass rape of a minor in the city park.

But also about the hatred and hate speech on social media against the suspects.

The process had been awaited for a long time.

Eleven men between the ages of 18 and 22 are now accused.

According to a Senate response to small inquiries from the CDU and AfD parliamentary groups, most of the accused are not German nationals.

Ten of them are accused of raping the then fifteen-year-old.

An eleventh defendant is involved in assisting and producing youth pornographic content: He is said to have filmed the crime with his cell phone.

Petition called for the faces to be released

It's been more than a year and a half since the crime.

It was the night of September 19th to 20th, 2020 when the teenager met friends in the city park to celebrate.

Barbecues and celebrations are popular on the wide grassy areas of the huge park, along the edges of which are strips of bushes and trees.

When the girl was apparently alone and, according to the indictment, heavily intoxicated, she first met one of the accused in the late evening.

He is said to have talked to her and led her into a bush.

Three other defendants are said to have joined, and sexual acts are said to have taken place, some with the use of force.

One of the four is said to have filmed the act and stolen the victim's handbag, another accused is said to have also taken pictures.

Subsequently, the court reported in advance from the indictment,

the victim is said to have been led two more times from the large fairground into a bush by other defendants, where sexual acts took place.

According to the indictment, the defendants deliberately exploited the limited resilience of the heavily intoxicated victim.

The case had caused deep dismay in Hamburg – and angry reactions on social networks.

The investigations had dragged on for a long time and the suspects were already at large when the names and photos of alleged perpetrators were published on an Instagram account at the end of last year.

In the comments, the "Hamburger Morgenpost" reported, "death wishes, brutal torture fantasies, racist and Islamophobic failures" were published.

There was also a petition that called for "immediate proceedings" and "the publication of the faces of the perpetrators".

Thousands signed.

The judge justified the exclusion of the public on Tuesday with the fact that the intimate and sexual sphere of the young co-plaintiff, but also that of the accused, had to be protected.

The defense counsel and the representative of the co-plaintiff had filed the application.

The public prosecutor's office did not agree, nor did the defendant's defense attorney: The judge said he justified this by saying that the public had to get an idea of ​​the "true circumstances" of the crime.

Then the doors closed again.

A further 41 days of negotiations are scheduled until the end of December.