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The Halle assassination attempt is one of the worst anti-Semitic crimes in German post-war history.
Now the higher regional court in Naumburg has sentenced the defendant Stephan Balliet to life imprisonment.
Due to the subsequent preventive detention, it is almost impossible that the 28-year-old will ever be released again.
Wolfang Ehm, press spokesman for the Halle regional court:
“The defendant was extensively involved in the crime. He made it very clear how he sees things, especially when it came to his view of the world. Weapon-related questions were also very interesting for him and he was very talkative. "
The defendant had confessed to his actions but showed no remorse.
During the trial he had repeatedly made anti-Semitic and racist statements, justifying his actions with conspiracy theories.
Wolfang Ehm, press spokesman for the Halle regional court:
“When it came to personal backgrounds and questions about how was he able to develop this, he was less talkative. It is the court that has tried to use all possible evidence in order to provide a little clarity in this regard. "
The judge described the assassination attempt as a "cowardly attack" and a "hideous, inhuman act".
The assassin tried to storm a synagogue in Halle last October on Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holiday.
He threw incendiary devices and explosives and shot at the front door of the church.
Because this held up, he could not get onto the site.
He then murdered a woman in the street and a man in a diner.
On his subsequent escape, he injured other people - according to the verdict with the intention of killing.
The court classified the assassin as fully culpable and finally imposed the maximum sentence.
Wolfang Ehm, press spokesman for the Halle regional court:
“When it is said several times that the evidence is actually clear because of the confessional statements and the crime video, then the evidence shows that it was not that clear after all. The questioning of a total of 86 witnesses made it clear that there are considerable differences, also to the statements made by the defendant, who was by no means fully confessed. There were deviations. And that also explains the length of the process. "
The court proceedings before the Naumburg Higher Regional Court are considered to be the largest in the history of Saxony-Anhalt.
For reasons of safety and space, the process took place in Magdeburg.
45 survivors and bereaved relatives had joined the accessory prosecution.
Almost all reported serious psychological consequences of the attack.