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He said such things were perfectly normal in his Egyptian homeland, and he was shocked when he learned through a translator that he had broken the law.

The man, identified as 29 year old Aly E, is on trial in the German capital Berlin for allegedly assaulting 13 women, six of them sexually, between April 2015 and February 2018 on the capital city's metro system.

Aly, who came to Germany when he was 14 and still does not speak German, confessed to the sexual assaults but said it was unfair that he was prosecuted.

He told the court: "In Egypt this happens frequently, it isn't penalised. I'm not well versed in law. There were no police in my village. Nobody told me that this was wrong here."