German Minister Apologizes For Mistakenly Imprisoning Syrian Who Died After Jail Fire

In July, the 26-year-old man was arrested for failing to pay a fine for theft. But police officers did not thoroughly check his identity, said Herbert Reul, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state in western Germany, according to the Associated Press. The Syrian man — whose name was not released — bore little resemblance to a man from Mali, who was being sought by police for the fine. But the Malian man had used a pseudonym, so the two had the same name.