Drive amok in Magdeburg

Arrest warrant: Psychiatrist must now be remanded in custody

Taleb A. is said to have entered the Christmas market in his car via an escape and rescue route.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA, TikTok)

Following the horrific drive to death at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, the suspect must be remanded in custody - the Magdeburg public prosecutor's office has applied for an arrest warrant for the 50-year-old.

He must be remanded in custody on charges of five counts of murder, multiple attempted murders and multiple counts of grievous bodily harm, the police announced early on Sunday morning. On Saturday, numerous people commemorated the victims in the cathedral. Five people died: four women and a boy.

The car crashed into the crowd at the Christmas market at high speed on Friday evening. According to the authorities, four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 and a nine-year-old boy were killed. A further 200 people were injured. Many of them suffered serious and extremely serious injuries, so the death toll could rise further. The suspect is a doctor from Bernburg who is known as a critic of Islam, comes from Saudi Arabia and has lived in Germany since 2006.

Search for motive
On Saturday, Horst Walter Nopens, the senior public prosecutor, spoke about the possible motive of the suspected perpetrator - it could have been dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees in Germany. On social networks, the arrested man presented himself as a vehement critic of Islam and the repressive power apparatus in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, he campaigned for the interests of women in particular from his arch-conservative home country. In social media and interviews, he has recently made accusations against German authorities, some of which have been formulated in a confused manner, accusing them of not doing enough to combat Islamism, among other things.

The crowd at the memorial service in Magdebrug was enormous.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

According to the German Press Agency, the suspect said that he used to be a Muslim but had since turned away from the faith. In February 2016, he applied for asylum, which was granted in July of the same year. The Saudi citizen was granted asylum as a politically persecuted person at the time.

Only around ten days ago, the American platform "RAIR", which describes itself as an anti-Muslim grassroots organization, published an interview with the doctor lasting more than 45 minutes. In it, he accused the German police of deliberately destroying the lives of Saudi asylum seekers who had renounced Islam. He also presented himself as a fan of X-owner Elon Musk, who now represents positions of the American right, and the AfD, which pursues the same goals as him. At the same time, however, he described himself as politically left-wing.

Flowers and stuffed animals are laid in memory of the victims.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BKA: No indication of an Islamist-motivated attack
BKA chief Holger Münch explained on ZDF's "heute journal" that - unlike similar acts in the past - there was no indication of an Islamist-motivated attack. The Federal Public Prosecutor General has also not yet clearly stated how the facts of the case should be classified. According to the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, the suspect had an Islamophobic attitude and had also been involved with right-wing extremist platforms. However, it is not yet possible to say conclusively that the crime was politically motivated.

As is often the case in such cases, the question of whether the security authorities could or should have acted earlier is now being discussed. Terrorism expert Peter Neumann said on ZDF television that the suspect did not fit into any particular mold. "He was not a typical Islamist. He was a Saudi who turned against Islam. That doesn't really fit into the usual patterns for the authorities." What's more, there is now a flood of information from thousands of people sending similar messages on the internet. "And it's very, very difficult to differentiate: Who is serious, and who is just on the internet making slogans?"

How did the car get to the Christmas market?
The suspected perpetrator is said to have entered the Christmas market in his car via an escape and rescue route, as Magdeburg's police inspector Tom-Oliver Langhans reported. There was then a discussion about whether the market was adequately protected. Ronni Krug, the city's deputy for personnel, citizen services and order, said: The security concept for the market had been drawn up "to the best of our knowledge and belief" and was last tightened up in November.

In contrast, extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler expressed doubts about Magdeburg's security concept on ARD's "Tagesthemen" program. It has been known for years that vehicles and gatherings of people are a very dangerous combination. It is therefore "difficult to explain why a vehicle managed to get into a Christmas market in Germany."