– Actor Kida Khodr Ramadan Accepts Second Prison Sentence
Wearing a t-shirt and comfortable pants, actor Kida Khodr Ramadan is escorted by judicial officers from the prison to the historic courtroom 500 of the Berlin District Court. However, unexpectedly, the “4 Blocks” star waives a trial: even before the second day of the appeal hearing at the district court begins, the 47-year-old withdraws his appeal. This makes the sentence of ten months in prison without parole for four cases of driving without a license final.
Similar to the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, he also waives an appeal against the verdict of the Tiergarten District Court from February 2024, as a court spokeswoman reports. This was a decision “in the interest of all parties involved,” said Ramadan’s lawyer Kai Walden shortly before quickly passing through the numerous cameras and microphones of journalists.
Ramadan has been imprisoned since Monday
Since Monday, Ramadan has been serving another ten-month prison sentence. This is based on a ruling from February 2022, where he was caught driving without a license 33 times. Originally, this sentence had been suspended, but was later revoked due to an incomplete payment of a fine of 20,000 euros within the set timeframe. According to his Hamburg lawyer, who has only been representing Ramadan for a few months, this was due to a “formal error.”
When the TV star was to report to serve his sentence earlier this year, he resisted in various ways. His lawyer tried, among other things, to prevent the prison sentence with a plea for clemency. In vain. On Monday, the actor reported to prison as ordered by the public prosecutor’s office.
He is currently serving his sentence in the open detention center Hakenfelde in Berlin-Spandau. This grants Ramadan more freedom than in a closed facility. If the conditions are met, the 47-year-old could potentially work during the day and return to prison in the evening.
No chance of parole
Apart from the prison sentence Ramadan is currently serving, another ten months have been added with the final verdict. According to the court spokeswoman, the sentences cannot be combined into a single overall sentence.
Despite the conviction in 2022, the actor was again involved in traffic offenses in 2023. Therefore, the Tiergarten Local Court saw no chance of a suspended sentence and sentenced the family man to a prison term of ten months this time. Additionally, a one-year driving ban was imposed.
Known for “4 Blocks”
Ramadan played the leader of a criminal Arab clan in Berlin-Neukölln in “4 Blocks,” who had to deal with murder, violence, drug trafficking, other gangsters, and detectives from the LKA. The award-winning series was his breakthrough as an actor. At the beginning of the year, the seven-part ARD series “Testo,” in which he is the lead actor, co-author, and co-director, premiered.
The Berlin public prosecutor’s office, similar to Ramadan’s lawyer, also decided not to challenge the verdict of the Tiergarten District Court in February 2024. This decision was made “in the interest of all parties involved,” as the court spokeswoman stated.
Following the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, the case was handled by the prosecuting authority, which added another ten months to Ramadan’s prison sentence in connection with the original ruling from 2022.
