Europe

Germany: 3 teenagers convicted in bomb attack on Sikh temple

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Journalists gather to take pictures of presiding judge Volker Uhlenbrock, right, in the court room in Essen, Germany, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The Essen state court has convicted three 17-year-olds of participating in a bomb attack on a Sikh temple last year and given them prison sentences of up to seven years. (Roland Weihrauch/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

Journalists gather to take pictures of presiding judge Volker Uhlenbrock, in the court room in Essen, Germany, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The Essen state court has convicted three 17-year-olds of participating in a bomb attack on a Sikh temple last year and given them prison sentences of up to seven years. (Roland Weihrauch/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

Journalists gather to take pictures of presiding judge Volker Uhlenbrock, right, in the court room in Essen, Germany, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The Essen state court has convicted three 17-year-olds of participating in a bomb attack on a Sikh temple last year and given them prison sentences of up to seven years. (Roland Weihrauch/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

A German court has convicted three 17-year-olds of participating in a bomb attack last year on a Sikh temple that was motivated by hatred of other religions.

The Essen state court, which tried the boys as juveniles in a closed-doors trial, convicted two of them Tuesday of attempted murder and bodily harm for setting off a home-made bomb outside an entrance to the temple in the city last April. A cleric's foot was broken and several other people suffered cuts.

One was sentenced to seven years in prison, the other to six years and nine months.

The third defendant, who wasn't at the scene of the bombing, was convicted of conspiracy to murder and given a six-year sentence. The court described the three as radicalized Muslims.