Murder trial of suspect in Christmas market car-ramming attack opens in Germany

A Saudi doc is connected proceedings for a car-ramming onslaught astatine a Christmas marketplace successful Magdeburg, Germany, past year

BERLIN -- A Saudi doc went connected proceedings connected execution charges Monday implicit the car-ramming attack connected a Christmas marketplace successful the German metropolis of Magdeburg past twelvemonth that near six radical dead.

The 51-year-old suspect, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, was brought by chopper to a impermanent courtroom successful the eastbound metropolis specially acceptable up for the trial, and sat down a bulletproof solid screen.

Five women and a lad died, and galore much radical were wounded, successful the Dec. 20 onslaught that lasted conscionable implicit a minute. The suspect is charged with six counts of execution and 338 of attempted execution successful the proceedings astatine the Magdeburg authorities court, for which sessions person been scheduled until March. He could look a beingness situation condemnation if convicted.

Prosecutor Matthias Böttcher told the tribunal that al-Abdulmohsen had acted retired of “supposed idiosyncratic frustration" and aimed to deed arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable successful bid to summation “the attraction helium wanted,” German quality bureau dpa reported.

There are nary ceremonial pleas successful the German ineligible system. But the suspect told the tribunal that helium planned to respond to the charges “for hours, possibly adjacent for days.”

Investigators person said that the onslaught was carried retired with a rented BMW X3, which reached speeds of up to 48 kph (30 mph) during the rampage. They said erstwhile they filed the indictment that helium wasn't nether the power of intoxicant and seemingly acted retired of dissatisfaction with the result of a ineligible quality and the nonaccomplishment of assorted transgression complaints. They besides person said that planned the onslaught without accomplices.

Officials person said the fishy doesn’t acceptable the accustomed illustration of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The antheral described himself arsenic an ex-Muslim who was highly captious of Islam and connected societal media expressed enactment for the far-right. He had antecedently travel to authorities’ attraction for threatening behaviour but wasn’t known to person committed immoderate violence.

The Magdeburg car-ramming was 1 of a bid of attacks involving immigrants that pushed migration to the forefront of the run for Germany’s national election successful February. The suspect arrived successful Germany successful 2006 and had received imperishable residency.

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