Maximum sentence for terrorist attack in Germany

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court found the 36-year-old Syrian Mahmoud M. guilty of four counts of attempted murder, established the particular gravity of his guilt and ordered preventive detention. He had pursued jihadist aims with the attack, said the presiding judge.

The court thus imposed the maximum sentence as requested by the federal prosecution. The accused lacked any empathy with the victims. Because of his radical Islamic views, the Syrian is still dangerous and his prognosis is extremely unfavorable, the highest German prosecution authority had stated. The defense lawyers had referred to the defendant's difficult childhood and the depression that a psychiatric expert had attested to him.

The four victims had reported during the trial that they were still suffering from the attack. Just over a year ago, they had been attacked at night while partying outside a bar in Bielefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia) and fatally stabbed. The attacker had shouted "Allahu akbar", said the presiding judge. Among the partygoers were numerous fans of the Arminia Bielefeld football club.

The accused had confessed the crime to psychologists and psychiatrists while in custody and admitted it in his closing statement during the trial. While in custody, he had also said that he had already killed two people in Syria, including his half-brother, on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.

Public prosecutor: IS past in Syria

According to the public prosecutor, the 36-year-old had already been active in the ranks of IS in Syria for years and had sworn an oath of allegiance to the caliph before he was arrested by Kurdish units as an IS man and imprisoned for eight months. He came to Germany in 2023.

Before the attack, he had sent a confession video to an IS contact, but it had not been published. He had also carried a piece of paper with an IS flag he had drawn himself.

He wanted to kill as many people as possible. Only when he lost his self-made sword and was faced with determined resistance did he flee. One day later, on the evening of May 19, he was arrested in Heiligenhaus near Düsseldorf because a cousin betrayed him to the police.

Clear words from the psychiatrist

According to the psychiatric expert, the accused is profoundly radicalized by Islamism. The Islamist-jihadist ideology is an integral part of his personality and his value system. He had even taken the risk of breaking off contact with his children to achieve this. He is sickly, intolerant and violent.

In Germany, his psychological situation had deteriorated after family reunification was stopped, he had not found work and had not learned German. The Syrian had refused to take part in a deradicalization programme.