Event: Germany

A German court on Friday jailed for life a Saudi psychiatrist who killed six people and wounded more than 300 when he drove a rented SUV through a crowded Christmas market in 2024.Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, 51 – an anti-Islam activist and adherent to right-wing conspiracy theories – listened to the verdict from inside a bulletproof glass box, his hands shackled.He was convicted of six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder by the court in the eastern city of Magdeburg.Judges also found there was an “especially severe culpability” – a ruling usually reserved for the most vile, cruel or morally reprehensible crimes.German prisoners serving life sentences can apply for parole after 15 years, but this designation makes release much less likely.Flowers and candles placed in tribute to the hundreds of victims of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, in December 2024. Six people died. Photo: AFPDuring the months-long trial, Abdulmohsen admitted to driving the vehicle – a BMW X3 compact SUV with over 340 horsepower – through the crowd on December 20, 2024, but denied deliberately running people over.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe man drove into a crowd of shoppers in December 2024, wounding hundreds of people.The defendant, whom the court identified only as Taleb A. to comply with privacy law, during his hearing in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday. Credit...Fabrizio Bensch/ReutersChristopher F. SchuetzeChristopher F. Schuetze reported from Magdeburg, Germany, in the aftermath of the attack in 2024.June 26, 2026A German court sentenced a 51-year-old doctor to life in prison on Friday for a car attack at a Christmas market in December 2024. The attack in Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, killed six people, including a 9-year-old child, and wounded more than 300.The doctor, a psychiatrist who was born in Saudi Arabia, drove a rented BMW through a gap in the market’s security perimeter and then accelerated, plowing into a crowd of shoppers. The episode was the deadliest in a series of seemingly random attacks in 2024 and 2025 carried out by foreign-born assailants in Germany. They shook Germans’ sense of security and contributed to a rise in support for the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, an anti-immigrant party.The driver, whom the court identified only as Taleb A. to comply with German privacy law, was pulled from the car and arrested by the police immediately after the attack.During the seven-month trial, both the defendant and his prosecutors said the attack had not been a political act or part of a wider terrorist plot. Mr. A. confessed to the crime in November, on the second day of the trial, but showed little remorse, instead focusing his testimony on perceived slights, petty arguments and seemingly trivial matters, including a complaint that his prison mattress was too hard.ImageThe aftermath of the attack in Magdeburg in December 2024.Credit...Ronny Hartmann/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn its verdict, a panel of judges ruled on Friday that Mr. A. had a…

A court in Germany has sentenced a man to life in prison for an attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in 2024, in which six people were killed.The court imposed the maximum sentence on the defendant, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, who is from Saudi Arabia. The 51-year-old was found guilty of murder.Prosecutors say he drove a rented BMW car at speeds of up to 48km/h (30mph) through the Christmas market in the centre of Magdeburg on 20 December 2024.They say the attack took place at 19:02 local time when the market was very crowded with Christmas revellers celebrating at the gingerbread and mulled wine stalls. It lasted just a minute and four seconds.A nine-year-old boy and five women between the ages of 45 and 75 were killed. Around 300 others were injured.Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen was arrested immediately after the incident.Prosecutors said he planned the attack well in advance and had acted alone. They said he was not pursuing any serious ideological goals, but acted primarily out of personal motives."The defendant's sole concern was, and remains, himself," the Chief Public Prosecutor Matthias Böttcher said.A psychiatric expert said the man had narcissistic personality disorder and an overwhelming need for attention.Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen told the court he had been motivated to carry out the attack because of conflicts with the German authorities. He said he was angry that the rights of Saudi women were being ignored.He said very little about the attack itself.Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen was granted asylum in Germany in 2016. It is understood that he claimed to face the threat of persecution in Saudi Arabia, due to his criticism of Islam and the ruling family. The German Press Agency DPA said he came from Hofuf in Saudi Arabia, and is from the Shiite minority there.Officials say he had a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and far-right…