FRANKFURT, Dec 9 (AFP) - Prosecutors on Thursday recommended that the former deputy police chief of this western German city be given a suspended fine for threatening to inflict pain on the main suspect in the abduction and murder of the 11-year-old son of a banker.
Wolfgang Daschner, 61, is accused of giving the order to a senior officer in the interrogation of Magnus Gaefgen, who was suspected of kidnapping Jakob von Metzler.
The Metzler family owns one of Germany's oldest private banks.
At the time of the questioning in October 2002, the boy was still listed as missing. Only later did it emerge that he had already been killed by Gaefgen.
The case has sparked controversy in Germany, with some observers seeing Daschner as a hero for trying to save the boy's life while others point to the strict ban on torture and intimidation in the country.
In the wake of the scandal, Daschner was transferred to the western city of Wiesbaden.
The prosecutor requested that Daschner be given a suspended fine of 27,000 euros (35,800 dollars) and required to pay 10,000 euros to charity. That sum would not be suspended.
In his summing-up, prosecutor Wilhelm Moellers said the extraordinary circumstances of the case meant that the sentence should be far more lenient than the normal penalty for incitement to intimidation which is a prison term of between six months and five years.
And the prosecutor recommended that the 51-year-old senior officer, who has not been named, should be given a suspended fine of 14,400 euros and should also pay 5,000 euros to charity.
A verdict is expected on December 20.
Gaefgen, 29, was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2003 for the kidnap and murder of the boy.
Giving evidence in this trial, Gaefgen said he had been threatened with physical violence during interrogation by the police.
12/09/2004 14:18 GMT - AFP