German authorities have charged the suspect in the deadly attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that left five people dead and 200 injured, with numerous murder, attempted murder and other charges, police announced early Sunday morning.
The suspect, identified as Taleb A under German privacy laws, was charged with five murders, several attempted murders and several counts of causing grievous bodily harm and remains in pre-trial detention, police said. The man was brought before the judge on Saturday evening.
The suspect allegedly drove through the Christmas market via unobstructed emergency lanes on Friday, hitting people at high speed. Four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, as well as a nine-year-old boy, were killed, they said.
The attack caused shock and mourning, not only in Germany, but worldwide.
Investigators say the suspect acted alone as there is currently no evidence of a second perpetrator, according to their findings.
Magdeburg is a city with about 237,000 inhabitants in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, about 150 kilometers west of Berlin.
The suspect is an activist critical of Islam
Taleb A is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, known as an activist critical of Islam. He has made erratic accusations on social media and in interviews, claiming that German authorities are not doing enough to combat Islamism.
He was previously an advocate for Saudi women fleeing their country, but later advised against seeking asylum in Germany. He wrote on his website in English and Arabic: “My advice: do not apply for asylum in Germany.”
It is still too early for a definitive assessment
The motive is still too unclear for a definitive assessment, but despite the nature of the attack, there is no evidence it was Islamist motivated, a senior law enforcement official said.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, told German public broadcaster ZDF on Saturday that it was not possible to say with certainty that the act was politically motivated, although he acknowledged that the suspect had an anti-Islamic attitude the day and engaged in extreme right-wing platforms.
Chief prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens in Magdeburg speculated that the motive could be dissatisfaction with the handling of refugees from Saudi Arabia in Germany.
Münch said after the BKA received a tip from Saudi Arabia about the man in November 2023, “a case has also been started here. The police in Saxony-Anhalt have also carried out corresponding investigative measures,” he said.
“He had various contacts with authorities, uttered insults and sometimes threats, but was not known for his violent acts,” Münch says about the suspect. These matters should be reassessed to check whether anything has been overlooked by the safety authorities.
“We have a completely atypical pattern here and we must now analyze it calmly.”
Saudi Arabian security sources said they had warned Germany about the suspected attacker and requested the suspect’s extradition, but Germany had not responded.
They said the man was a Shia Muslim from the town of Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a minority in the country, making up only about 10% of the Sunni majority country.
There have been repeated reports of discrimination against Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
