Life imprisonment and preventive detention for Islamist attacks in Duisburg
According to the verdict, the accused, who comes from Syria, fatally stabbed a passer-by in Duisburg city center on the night of Easter Sunday. Nine days later, he attacked four men with a knife in a Duisburg fitness studio, injuring some of them critically. He was caught a few days after the attack and has been in custody ever since.
According to the Higher Regional Court, the accused, who came to Germany as a refugee in 2015, had been radicalizing himself on the internet since 2020 and was guided by the ideology of the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). However, he acted without any "direct connection" to this or any other extremist organization. According to the court's findings, he fundamentally rejected the legal and social order of the Federal Republic of Germany and aspired to live in an Islamic "theocracy" based on Sharia law.
Against this background, he therefore regarded all those who did not share his ideology as "infidels" and was also determined to "arbitrarily kill selected male residents of the Federal Republic of Germany ", as the Higher Regional Court further stated. The acts of April were the result of this plan. The "presumed Western lifestyle" of his victims alone had served him as sufficient proof of their "disbelief".
According to the court, the accused confessed to the crimes and, during the trial that began in October, also showed his determination to commit further similar crimes in order to "fulfill a supposed religious duty". He had also refused "any communication" with his defense lawyer, which is why the latter had not made any request in his plea.
With its ruling, the Higher Regional Court complied with the motions of the federal prosecution and the joint plaintiff, who represented the surviving dependants of the victim and victims of the second attack. In addition to the conviction for murder and attempted murder as well as the permanent placement in preventive detention, the court also determined the particular gravity of the guilt.
The crimes were committed insidiously and with base motives and had claimed a "large number of victims", the court explained. The knife attacks also had "considerable consequences" for the injured. Due to the defendant's "tendency to commit attacks and the associated danger to the general public", he was also ordered to be placed in preventive detention.
According to the court, the man killed was a 35-year-old who was partying with friends in Duisburg city center. According to the indictment, the accused stabbed him at least 28 times with a kitchen knife, injuring him so severely that he died on the same day. During the attack in the gym, he randomly attacked three men in the changing rooms and showers and stabbed some of them several times in the upper body. He also attacked a fourth man who tried to help.
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Source: www.stern.de
