Sunday 22 December 2024
Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - DW Urdu - 22nd December 2024) Magdeburg police said on Sunday morning that a pre-trial detention warrant has been issued for the suspect in Friday's Christmas market car attack in Magdeburg. The Saudi national is being referred to as Talib A, with his identity being withheld under German secrecy laws.
The police said in a statement that the Magdeburg district court accepted the appeal of the city's public prosecutors in a hearing held late on Saturday night.
"The judge ordered pre-trial detention on suspicion of five counts of murder, several counts of attempted murder and several counts of attempted grievous bodily harm," the police said.
''
Meanwhile, solidarity and tributes are being paid to the victims of Friday's attack in the city of Magdeburg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Several Christmas markets and Christmas events have been canceled.
German Chancellor visits Magdeburg Christmas market, condemns ‘horrific disaster’
Police sources
Police said the five people killed in Friday’s attack included four women and a young boy. The boy was nine years old, while the four women killed were aged 45, 52, 67 and a 75-year-old woman.
Police did not identify the victims under German privacy laws. The suspect reportedly used the emergency lane to drive a black BMW into the Christmas market crowd and drove the car into the market at an extraordinary speed.
Mourning ceremonies
A large memorial service was held in Magdeburg on Saturday evening at the cathedral near the scene of the attack, attended by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other German leaders.
A minute's silence will be observed at all matches in the German first and second division Bundesliga this weekend.
Security has been beefed up around Christmas markets across the country after Friday's attack, with police reinforcements.
'Berlin Christmas market attack was the result of multiple agency errors'
Motive of terror attack still unclear
Authorities say no definitive answer can be given to the motives behind the attack.
A senior law enforcement official, however, said that despite the nature of the attack, there was no indication of an Islamist movement behind it. Holger München, head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office BKA, told German public broadcaster ZDF yesterday that no definitive answer could be given to the motives behind the terrorist attack.
They said that although the attacker expressed his anti-Islamic attitude and his affiliation with the right-wing political platform, Germany's AfD party, it cannot be definitively said whether there was a political motive behind the act.
Meanwhile, Magdeburg's chief public prosecutor, Horst-Walter Knoppens, has speculated that the attack may have been intended to express dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees from Saudi Arabia in Germany.
Saudi Arabia warns Germany about suspected attacker
According to Holgermünch, head of the German Federal Criminal Police Office BKA, after German authorities received information about the Saudi national from Saudi Arabia, “a case was also opened against the man in Germany in November 2023.”
Regarding the 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist, Holgermünch added, “The suspect had numerous contacts with the authorities in which he insulted them and occasionally made threats, but he was not considered to be capable of violent acts.
Strasbourg attacker was a violent criminal, police
The head of the German Federal Criminal Police Office BKA, however, says that these cases need to be re-examined and it needs to be assessed whether there was any oversight by the security authorities. “We have an unusual example and we need to analyze it calmly,” he said.
‘’
What are Saudi Arabian authorities saying?
Saudi security sources say they warned Germany and requested the extradition of the suspected attacker and the accused, but Germany has not responded. They said the man was a resident of the eastern Saudi city of Hofuf and a Shiite Muslim. It should be noted that Saudi Arabia is a Sunni Muslim majority, while the Shiite community is a minority there, making up only 10 percent of the population. Reports of discrimination against Shiite Muslims continue to come from this Arab state.
Comments
Post a Comment