HAMBURG (GERMANY), Dec. 6 (dpa / EP) –
The Gambian footballer Bakery Jatta, from Hamburg SV of the second division of German football, will go to trial after a complaint filed against him before a juvenile court for violation of the law of residence.
As reported on Monday, the Hamburg State Prosecutor’s Office considers that in fact the real name of the players Bakary Daffeh and that he is two and a half years older than he claims. The Gambian footballer is accused of “violation of the law of residence in four cases, as well as in another case through false declaration”.
“I don’t understand how this complaint can be made based on the investigations,” Thomas Bliwier, Jatta’s lawyer, told dpa. “We consider that Mr. Jatta unequivocally proved his identity. We will request that the trial be annulled,” he said.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Jatta traveled as an undocumented refugee in the European summer of 2015 to Germany via Italy. According to the complaint, in Bremen he said that he was Bakery Jatta, born on June 6, 1998. In this way, he adds, he wanted to benefit from the advantages of being a minor so as not to be deported.
However, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, it is actually Bakary Daffeh, born on November 6, 1995. Under that name, the footballer played as a professional for different African clubs.
In his native country, it seems, identity documents were issued with his new identity, which he later used to extend his stay permit. He would also have applied for a travel permit under that name.
The trial will be held before a juvenile judge, “because the accused was at the time of the events in part a young man between 18 and 21 years old and in part an adult.” According to the Prosecutor’s Office, most of the accusations must be judged according to the juvenile law.