Man who drove car into German Christmas market gets life in prison
by Lisa Hornung · UPIJune 26 (UPI) -- The man convicted of driving his car into a German Christmas market killing six people and injuring more than 300 was sentenced to life in prison Friday.
Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, 51, drove a rented SUV up to 30 mph through the crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, in December 2024, killing five women and a 9-year-old boy. Magdeburg is in northeast Germany, between Berlin and Leipzig.
He was arrested when he stepped out of the vehicle and was charged with six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder.
Al-Abdulmohsen is a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with far-right sympathies and anti-Islam ideology. He moved to Germany in 2006.
He had worked at a clinic in Bernburg since 2020 in a secure psychiatric facility for people dealing with addictions, but had recently been registered as unfit for work, the BBC reported. The designation is typically used for sick leave longer than three days.
Al-Abdulmohsen's defense was that he admitted driving through the Christmas market, but denied that he tried to run people over. His testimony was sometimes incoherent, and he talked about far-right conspiracy theories, The Telegraph reported. He staged a hunger strike that forced the trial to continue without him for part of it.
Prosecutor Matthias Böttcher said in closing arguments that the attack "defies human comprehension" and caused the victims and their families "simply indescribable" suffering. Böttcher added that al-Abdulmohsen showed "no remorse, regret or introspection whatsoever" during the trial.
Because his crime was classified as "particularly severe," it will be more difficult for him to get an early release, the Telegraph reported.
Police knew about Al-Abdulmohsen before the attack because Saudi Arabia had sent four warnings to Germany about his extremist views. He had been fined for making threats of criminal violence after accusing German authorities of failing to protect Saudis.
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