A man accused of driving a car into crowds at a Christmas market in Germany, killing five people and injuring more than 200, has been arrested on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.
The Magdeburg Police Department said in a statement on Sunday that the suspect issued a warrant for his pre-trial detention on five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
The dead are a nine-year-old boy and four women aged 52, 45, 75 and 67, said a police statement. Of those injured, about 40 had serious or serious injuries.
The authorities reported that the suspected attacker used emergency exits to reach the premises of the Christmas market, where he drove into the crowd, hitting more than 200 people in a three-minute incident. He was arrested at the scene.
Constant tension
Friday evening’s attack in the city center of Magdeburg shocked Germany and reignited tensions over migration.
The suspect, identified as Taleb A, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic speeches, who has lived in Germany for almost two decades.
The cause of this attack is not yet known, but the Magdeburg prosecutor, Horst Nopens, said on Saturday that it may have been what he called the suspect’s frustration with the way Germany treats Saudi refugees.
The suspect in the attack has made death threats against German citizens online and has a history of clashes with government authorities, leading German media to question whether the government could have done more to stop the attack.
News magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the Saudi secret service had warned Germany’s spy agency BND last year about a tweet in which Taleb threatened Germany to pay a “price” for handling Saudi refugees.
And in August he wrote on social media: “Is there a way to justice in Germany without blowing up the German embassy or killing German citizens at random?… If anyone knows, please let me know.”
Die Welt daily reported, citing security sources, that German state and federal police conducted a “risk assessment” on Taleb last year but concluded that he was “of no particular risk”.
Right reinforcement
Police reported scuffles and “minor disturbances” during the protest in Magdeburg on Saturday night, which was attended by around 2,100 people.
The protesters, some wearing black balaclavas, held a large banner reading “emigration”, a term used by supporters of an opposition party that advocates the deportation of immigrants and people who cannot be considered German.
The incident comes ahead of a crucial election in Germany on February 23, which has drawn heavy criticism from far-right and far-left parties opposed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government.
The head of Germany’s far-right parliament (AfD) Bernd Baumann demanded that Scholz call a special session of the Bundestag on the “disastrous” security situation, saying “this is the least we owe the victims.”
Meanwhile, the head of the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), Sahra Wagenknecht, demanded that the Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser explain “why so many warnings and warnings were ignored earlier”.
Scholz condemned the attack as “vicious and insane”, calling for national unity.
Previously, the suspect expressed his support on social media X of the AfD as well as the billionaire of the United States Elon Musk, who supports the AfD. The group has a strong base of support in the former East Germany, where Magdeburg is located. Its members, including chancellor candidate Alice Weidel, planned a meeting in Magdeburg on Monday evening.
Source link
