A year ago, he drove his car into a crowd at a German Christmas market. Now, Taleb A is on trial for murdering five adults and a child during the attack, as well as attempting to murder and injure several hundred others.
It was on December 20, 2024, when the 51-year-old Saudi Arabian drove his car into a crowd in Magdeburg. In addition to the six dead, he is also accused of attempting to murder an additional 338 people and injuring 309 during the attack.
The prosecutors claim that Taleb A’s rented BMW reached speeds of up to 48 km/h as it was driven into the crowds enjoying the festivities on the last Friday before Christmas.
On the first day of the trial, Taleb A spoke for 90 minutes and mentioned Andre Gleissner, the child he is accused of mowing down. He claimed to have had a vision of a child as he drove through the market, and cried in the bulletproof glass box, built for his safety in the specially constructed courtroom, and apologized to Andre’s parents.
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He began his defense by talking about the French philosopher Voltaire and criticizing “left-wing media”. During his opening statement, he jumped between topics and made extensive accusations against the Berlin police, former German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, and former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
He also dismissed an assessment from a forensic expert that he is a narcissist.
“I don’t want other foreigners to be disadvantaged because of what I did,” the accused told the court.
Faces life imprisonment
The boy’s father was also present on the first day of the trial. Earlier in the day, the prosecutors spent more than two hours reading out the charges, which included the injuries inflicted on both survivors and victims.
Taleb A describes himself as an “ex-Muslim”. In the hours leading up to the attack, he posted anti-Islamic views on his social media and claimed that Germany allowed the “Islamization of Europe”. He is also said to have expressed support for the national conservative AfD.
If Taleb A is found guilty, he faces a life sentence.
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