The perpetrator of the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg was known to the German services. A few years ago, the man threatened to commit crimes. He also has a conviction on his record. More than 10 years ago, he was sentenced to 90 days in prison for disturbing public peace, local authorities said.
On Friday evening, a passenger car drove at high speed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Magdeburg in eastern Germany. Five people were killed and 200 injured in the attack. The perpetrator's motive could have been dissatisfaction with the way refugees from Saudi Arabia are treated in Germany, Horst Walter Nopens, the chief prosecutor of Magdeburg, said on Saturday.
Police at the site of the attack in Magdeburg (21/12/2024)EPA/PHILIP SINGER
The perpetrator was known to the services
The suspect, Taleb Abdul Javad, from Saudi Arabia, lived between 2011 and 2016 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a federal state in eastern Germany. In 2013, he was sentenced by a court in Rostock to 90 days in prison for disturbing public peace by threatening to commit crimes, said Christian Pegel, the head of the Ministry of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at a press conference in Schwerin. The weekly “Spiegel” reported about it earlier.
According to the minister, the perpetrator of the attack completed part of specialist medical training in Stralsund (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). In a dispute over the recognition of exam results, he threatened representatives of a medical association with committing a crime that would attract international attention. He then referred to the attack on the Boston Marathon, dpa reports.
During the search of the attacker's house, no evidence of actual preparations for the attack or any Islamist connections were found. – On the contrary, he seemed to distance himself (from Islam – ed.) and advocate the opposite – Pegel pointed out.
He called himself “the most aggressive critic of Islam in history.” Who is the Magdeburg bomber?TVN24
In 2014, the man was suspected of using extortion. He wanted to ask the authorities in Stralsund for help with living costs and reportedly threatened to take action that would attract international attention if it was not received. He allegedly threatened to kill himself in the office if his application was rejected.
After the 2013 verdict, Javad complained that the judges who handed him down were racist. He also threatened that if they had any doubts, he would get a gun and take revenge on them, and claim that the German Basic Law was itself xenophobic, dpa wrote.
The interior minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also said the man had not been classified as a threat, which is usually the case when he expresses dangerous views or endorses such ideologies. This did not happen in this case – it was communicated.
Special session of parliament
The issue of the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg may be discussed by the Bundestag this year.
According to the Bild daily, special meetings of the parliamentary control body responsible for secret services and the internal affairs committee are being prepared for December 30, dpa reported.
Main photo source: EPA/PHILIP SINGER