The owners of the Artemis brothel in Berlin want to build another large brothel nearby, and a court will decide on this on Monday.
The new brothel is planned for an empty building near the A100 city highway, close to the Messe exhibition grounds in Berlin-Charlottenburg. This building used to be a wine trading company. On Monday morning, the Berlin administrative court will visit the building to inspect it. Representatives from the district, the brothel, and judges will attend. The purpose of this visit is to check the building’s condition, which is a normal part of building law cases.
After the visit, the hearing will continue at the courthouse later that day, and a decision could be made the same day.
The new brothel is planned to be across the street from the existing Artemis brothel. The owners, Hakim Ş. and Kenan Ş., applied for a building permit from the district several years ago, but the request was denied because of planning rules. Now, the owners are trying to get the permit through legal action.
Previous legal issues faced by Artemis
The Artemis brothel and its owners have faced several legal problems in recent years. In 2016, the brothel was raided by over 900 police officers and law enforcement personnel because of accusations of illegal activities, including human trafficking, tax evasion, and connections to organized crime.
These accusations were based on statements from a former employee. During the raid, the owners, Hakim and Kenan Ş., and four employees were arrested. The owners spent almost four months in detention, which they said was damaging to their lives and their business reputation.
In 2018, after more than two years of investigation, the District Court dismissed all charges against the Artemis owners due to a lack of evidence. The prosecution couldn’t prove the accusations, and it was decided that the initial claims were not true. This ended a long and highly publicized legal struggle for the Artemis owners. Read this story below:
Claim for damages following the raid
After the charges were dismissed, the Artemis owners sued the state of Berlin for damages because of the unlawful raid and pretrial detention. In November 2022, the Berlin Superior Court suggested a settlement, which included compensation for the owners and a donation to a charity. However, negotiations failed, and no agreement was reached.
Read the details in this article:
In June 2023, Berlin’s Justice Senator Felor Badenberg announced that the state would pay the Artemis owners €250,000 for the unlawful detention and the false statements made by the prosecution. The settlement also included an apology from the state of Berlin for the actions taken during the 2016 raid. The Artemis owners plan to donate part of the compensation to charity and also compensate their employees for what they went through during the detention. Read more here:
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