The court in the eastern city of Cottbus sentenced three of the defendants to juvenile prison sentences of three years, two years and 28 months. It also handed down six suspended sentences of between one and two years and issued warnings to two of the defendants.
The defendants, who also faced charges of inciting racial hatred, had chased three asylum-seekers from African countries through the small town of Guben in February 1999.
The Algerian, 28-year-old Farid Guendoul, a.k.a. Omar Ben Noui, had jumped through a glass door in panic and bled to death. The state prosecutor had called for juvenile prison sentences of up to three and a half years, while the defence called for them to be acquitted.
(la/dpa)