MAGDEBURG – A Saudi doctor went on trial in Germany yesterday, accused of driving an SUV through a Christmas market, killing six people and wounding more than 300 in a rampage that shocked the nation. 

Taleb Jawad al – Abdulmohsen, a 51-year-old psychiatrist, was arrested next to the battered vehicle after the attack on 20 December in the eastern city of Magdeburg. Prosecutors say Abdulmohsen – a critic of Islam and an adherent of far-right views and radical conspiracy theories – was motivated by “dissatisfaction and frustration”. They say he aimed “to kill as many people as possible”. As the trial started, Abdulmohsen, now with a long, greying beard, smiled as he was seated in a bullet-proof cubicle. He had used a rented BMW to race into the crowd, killing a nine-year-old boy and five women aged between 45 and 75. Security services faced uncomfortable questions about whether the attack could have been prevented, given Abdulmohsen’s history of extreme rhetoric and violent threats. 

He faces six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder in a trial expected to last until at least March. The large number of victims and witnesses led authorities to build a temporary hall as a court room as no existing court in the state of Saxony-Anhalt could accommodate the trial. 

Abdulmohsen faces life in prison if convicted. He arrived in Germany in 2006 and obtained refugee status 10 years later. Active at times as a migrant rights campaigner, he was also a prolific user of social media, writing rambling posts critical of Islam and repeating far-right conspiracy theories. 

– Nampa/AFP