The trial of three Zurich teenagers begins today in Munich. The teens are accused of beating 5 passers-by during a field trip to Germany last summer. From Munich Tony Ganzer explains why the teens could face nearly 10 years in prison.

TG: Prosecutors at the time called the beatings a „rampage without weapons.“ The three Swiss teenagers, now 17, traveled to Munich with classmates last summer. During the evening, the teens are accused of randomly selecting passers-by, including a disabled man, and attacking them with punches and kicks. Two of the victims were seriously injured.

TG: The teens were found a while later with alcohol on their breath and police arrested them immediately. The random nature of the attack, along with the severity of victims' injuries, increases the potential jail time for the three.  Heinz Schöch is a professor of criminal and juvenile law at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.

SCHÖCH: "German courts qualify kicks to the head because of their dangerousness as a knowing violation...and if there was no conflict before, as attempted murder."

TG: Schöch says German courts began qualifying kicks to the head as attempted murder in response to Neo-Nazi violence in the 90s, and the charge brings a possible sentence of nearly 10 years. The normal maximum punishment for juvenile offenses in Germany is 5 years.

TG: Schöch says Munich has seen many cases of youth violence in recent years, and there is a kind of precedent in this case.

SCHÖCH: "Two years ago..the young man was nearly 18 years old, but he was only 1 man with 1 attack, and here we have five victims so it is the worst case of attempted murder."

TG: As with all juvenile proceedings in Germany this trial is closed. Schöch says the best the accused could hope for in this case would be 4 years in prison. He guesses they will receive 6 to 8 years.

Tony Ganzer from World Radio Switzerland in Munich.

  Trial....on World Radio Switzerland