Extremism - Duisburg knife attacks: maximum sentence for IS supporters
Eight months after the murderous knife attacks in Duisburg, a confessed Islamist has received the maximum sentence. On Tuesday, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court sentenced the 27-year-old to life imprisonment for murder and four counts of attempted murder.
The court also established the particular gravity of his guilt, which practically rules out his release after a minimum term of 15 years. It also imposed preventive detention.
No remorse and no compassion
The Syrian showed no remorse, no compassion and had announced further crimes, a representative of the federal prosecutor's office had said. He had followed the Islamic State terrorist group's slogan of turning the entire world into a theater of war.
The confessed Islamist had first killed a 35-year-old man on the street in Duisburg at night on April 9 with at least 28 stab wounds. Nine days later, he stabbed and seriously injured four visitors in a Duisburg fitness studio.
"I wanted to commit even more crimes"
"I wanted to kill as many people as possible", he had confessed and: "I wanted to commit more crimes until I was killed so that I would die a martyr."
The defendant's indifference was shocking for the victims and their families, the joint plaintiffs' representatives had said. The defense attorney had not filed a motion: "My client did not speak to me. I was able to slow him down on the first day, but then he made a statement that went beyond the content of the indictment."
The 27-year-old took the floor again on Monday: "They can judge what they want and how they want. That's just life here in this world. We hope that God will bring us to paradise," he said. He showed no reaction to the verdict on Tuesday.
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- The knife attacks in Duisburg, committed by an Islamic State supporter, resulted in a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in Düsseldorf.
- The court in North Rhine-Westphalia recognized the particular gravity of the confessed Islamist's actions, making his release unlikely after serving a minimum term of 15 years.
- German authorities are grappling with the issue of extremism, as evidenced by the maximum penalty handed down in the Duisburg knife attack case.
- The Islamic State terrorist group's influence was reflected in the defendant's motive for committing the knife attacks in Duisburg, which were part of a larger goal of turning the world into a battlefield.
- The attorney for the victims expressed shock at the defendant's lack of remorse following the attacks, which left four people seriously injured and resulted in one death.
- The 27-year-old perpetrator showed no reaction to the verdict, maintaining his religious beliefs and hoping for a place in paradise.
Source: www.stern.de
