Trial for suspect of deadly Magdeburg market attack begins
The trial of a man accused of organizing an attack on a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg last December, which killed six people and injured more than 300, begins Monday.
It was learned that the suspect was a Saudi Arabian doctor named Taleb A. in accordance with German privacy laws.
He is accused of driving a rented BMW car at speeds of up to 48 km/h (29 mph) in the market in central Magdeburg on December 20, 2024.
Prosecutors said the attack took place at 19:02 local time, when the market was packed with Christmas revelers, and lasted just one minute and four seconds.
Taleb A., now 51 years old, will be tried in the Magdeburg regional court, accused of murdering six people, including a nine-year-old boy and five women aged 45 to 75.
He is also charged with attempted murder in relation to 338 people.
He faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm to 309 people and dangerous interference with road traffic.
Prosecutors in Naumburg, Saxony-Anhalt, said in a statement that Taleb A. “was not under the influence of alcohol or similar substances at the time of the attack and apparently acted out of dissatisfaction and disappointment with the course and outcome of a legal dispute and the failure of various criminal complaints.”
They said his aim appeared to be “to kill an indeterminate number of people.” They said he had planned and prepared the crime in detail over several weeks without the help of his accomplices.
Taleb A. has been in custody since the day the crime was committed. If convicted, he faces life in prison for murder.
Due to the large number of victims, a temporary courthouse was built in Magdeburg for his trial.
Germany’s Christmas markets and festivals have been attacked before, mostly by Islamist extremists.
At the time of the attack, authorities said Taleb A. was an “unusual” attacker.
Taleb A., a refugee from Saudi Arabia, has been described as critical of Islam and has voiced support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on social media, praising the party for fighting against the same enemy as him “to protect Germany.”
