- Sentencing of 17-year-old for attempted murder
Due to his intent to carry out a massacre in the name of the Islamic State on a Christmas market, a 17-year-old from Wittstock has been sentenced to a multi-year youth sentence. The verdict was issued for conspiracy to commit murder and for "publicly using the symbol of a banned organization," a court spokesperson explained. The defendant, in the court's view, had posted symbols of the so-called Islamic State on social media.
Intended to kill as many people as possible
In the trial, the charges of the public prosecutor were largely confirmed, the spokesperson said. According to this, the accused Chechen had become increasingly radicalized and had agreed with a similarly convicted 15-year-old accomplice to obtain a truck and use it to kill as many people as possible at the Christmas market in Leverkusen-Opladen. "Those Christmas market visitors who would not be killed immediately were to be stabbed with knives," the spokesperson added.**
Specifically, the younger one planned to drive the truck over the Christmas market to kill as many visitors as possible, whom he considered unbelievers. The 17-year-old from Wittstock, who was convicted by the Neuruppin Regional Court, was to film the act.
Trial without public
The young Chechen was arrested at the end of last year, aged 16. As he was a minor at the time of the crime and still is, the entire trial took place behind closed doors, preventing any details from being leaked to the public. His younger accomplice was also sentenced to a four-year youth detention sentence by the Cologne Regional Court weeks ago. The youth from the Rheinisch-Bergisch district had made a full confession in the trial at the Cologne Regional Court.**
Youth in custody
According to the court spokesperson, the 17-year-old is currently in custody. "The chamber has ordered the continuation of custody." The decision is not yet final. Both the defendant and the public prosecutor can appeal against the verdict, the spokesperson said.**
Massacre like on Breitscheidplatz
The fact that the two youths allegedly targeted a Christmas market is reminiscent of the attack on December 19, 2016, on the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin. At that time, an Islamist terrorist drove a hijacked truck into the Christmas market. The attack resulted in the deaths of 13 people, one of whom died later from his injuries.**
The 17-year-old, sentenced in Neuruppin, was planning to film a massacre at the Christmas market in Leverkusen-Opladen. The younger accomplice had intentions of driving a truck over the market to cause as much harm as possible, seeing the visitors as unbelievers.
