The Afghan citizen is accused of driving into a crowd in Munich earlier this year. A 37-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter died. At the same time, there is speculation about the man’s mental health.

It was on February 13 that Farhad Noori is suspected of driving his Mini Cooper at 30 kilometers per hour into a demonstration held by the Verdi trade union. The Afghan is now charged with two counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder.

The German federal prosecutor’s office argues that Noori committed the crime ‘out of exaggerated religious motives’ and – based on a psychiatric evaluation – that he is fully responsible for his actions.

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According to Remix News, he will stand trial in January. If convicted, the Afghan risks life imprisonment without the possibility of placement in a psychiatric clinic.

Criminal responsibility

Noori’s lawyer Ömer Sahinci disputes his client’s responsibility and says that the trial will focus on the issue of his criminal responsibility.

Shortly after the crime, the Afghan was placed in the psychiatric ward of Straubing prison. However, an expert concluded that Noori was fully responsible for his actions and that he did not suffer from any mental disability, and therefore he was transferred to the remand prison in Stadelheim prison. But according to the defense, Noori now shows ‘signs of mental illness’.

– My client was only in Stadelheim for a few days. He has been back in the psychiatric ward in Straubing for several months now because he shows signs of mental illness. The federal prosecutor has refused to provide a statement from the treating doctors in Straubing, Sahinci says.

Illegal immigrant

Before the terrorist attack, Farhad Noori is said to have shared Islamist propaganda online and written ‘exterminate all who are bad to Islam’. When Noori was arrested, he began shouting ‘Allah’.

Noori came to Germany during the migrant crisis in 2016 when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country’s borders wide. Despite the rejected asylum application, he was able to stay in Germany legally. The reason he was not deported is said to be the security situation in Afghanistan.

According to prosecutors, there were ‘indications of an extremist background’. Noori has had previous legal issues, for drug offenses and theft.

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