An immigrant accused of raping and murdering a German student is the same man who was convicted of a separate attack in Greece. <br /><br /> A Greek police spokesman confirmed to Euronews that fingerprints showed that a man giving his name as Hussein Khavar who was sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder in Corfu, is the same now held by authorities in the city of Freiburg.<br /><br /> The man was allowed Germany after claiming to be a 16-year-old unaccompanied minor.<br /><br /> However, at his trial in Greece in 2013 he said he was 17 and his age helped him to secure early release under a prison reform programme in 2015.<br /><br /> He disappeared from an offender monitoring scheme in December that year and an arrest warrant was issued. Despite this he was welcomed into Germany and housed with a family. <br /><br /> He also appears to have changed his nationality in the intervening period, telling Greek police he was Iranian but claiming to be Afghan in Germany.<br /><br /> He is accused of the rape and murder of Maria Ladenburger, who volunteered helping refugees, following a party in the southern city of Freiburg in October.<br /><br /> Contacted by Euronews, Maria-Eleni Nikopoulou, a lawyer who represented Khavar at his trial in Corfu said that he had claimed to be drunk when he pushed a student off a cliff.<br /><br /> Dental tests at the time indicated that he was under 18 so he was sent to a juvenile prison in Athens.<br />He was given a supervised release two years later under a programme instituted by the Syriza government to free up space in prisons, but he then failed to appear at a regular appointment at the police station.<br /><br /> After declaring his remorse, the man was asked to write a letter of apology but never did, according to his lawyer.<br /><br /> The brother of the victim of that attack told Euronews that while his sister had recovered from her injuries, the family just wanted to move on from the incident.<br /><br /> “We are trying to forget what happened. Now my sister is fine and we don’t want to speak again about this nightmare,” he said.<br /><br /> In reaction to the crime, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned against exploiting the crime for “incitement” against migrants.<br /><br /> In fact, crimes committed by immigrants have declined by 36% in the first half of 2016, according to the German government . <br /><br /> Germany has also experienced a drop in the number of migrants received in 2016, down from a record breaking year in 2015. <br /><br /> However, hate crimes against migrants and asylum seekers rose by more than fivefold , including 75 cases of arson against asylum shelters in 2015.<br />
