German diplomat charged with murdering Belgian husband in Brazil


Brazilian state prosecutors have charged a German diplomat on suspicion of murdering his husband earlier this month.

Uwe Herbert Hahn — who worked at the German consulate in Rio de Janeiro — was initially arrested after his 52-year-old Belgian husband was found dead on 5 August.

He was released from police custody by a state court on Friday, just days before prosecutors filed charges for “aggravated murder”.

Authorities say they are investigating reports that the consul fled the country and returned to Germany on a flight on Sunday. 

Brazil’s judiciary has now called for Hahn to be added to Interpol’s list of fugitives.

According to prosecutors, the murder was “committed with cruel means” and Hahn’s husband was “severely beaten, causing intense and unnecessary suffering”.

The victim was unable to react due to a mixture of alcohol and anxiety medication, they added.

Hahn “nurtured an abject feeling of possession for the victim,” prosecutors say, claiming that the diplomat “subjugated his husband financially and psychologically” during their 23 years of marriage.

“He did not accept that the victim tried to establish some level of independence … either economically or by establishing friendly relations with other people.”

Hahn said his husband fell at their apartment in the wealthy Ipanema neighbourhood after suffering a sudden illness.

But police say the man’s body had suffered multiple wounds in a “violent death” and found bloodstains in the couple’s apartment.

Euronews has contacted the consulate in Rio de Janeiro, the German embassy in Brasilia, and the German foreign ministry for a statement.



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