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Defendant Stephan Ernst: Ashen and with bowed head, the 46-year-old follows the descriptions of co-plaintiff Ahmad I.
Photo: Boris Roessler / dpa
Ahmad I. got to know life in many facets.
When the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) invaded his hometown of Mosul, he fled Iraq.
He came to Germany and found protection in November 2015 in the initial reception facility, for which Walter Lübcke had advertised in his role as Kassel regional president and which had attracted the contempt of right-wing extremists.
In room 165 of the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court, Ahmad I is sitting this Thursday just a few meters away from two men who did not want refugees like him to stay in this accommodation in Lohfelden near Kassel.
Not there and not in any other place in Germany.
Stephan Ernst and Markus H. are charged with murder and complicity in the murder of Walter Lübcke, who for them became a "traitor" during the refugee crisis.
Ernst is also charged with attempted murder of Ahmad I, who, like the Lübcke family, appears as a joint plaintiff in the trial.
Ernst allegedly attacked Ahmad I on January 6, 2016.
Ahmad I. describes the moment that lasted only a few minutes.
It was 9 p.m., Ahmad I was on his way from the accommodation to the gas station to buy cigarettes.
He wore headphones, over them the hood of his anorak, in hand the cell phone, he was listening to music and probably typing a message at the same time.
He ran in the middle of the sidewalk, noticed a cyclist coming from behind, intuitively gave way and stepped to the side.
"I thought I was going to die"
"I felt a blow on the back," says Ahmad I. At first he did not realize that he had been attacked with a knife.
"I thought of a stick, I fell to the ground."
He saw the cyclist driving on, he was carrying a backpack.
It was dark.
Ahmad I. is said to have called after him: "Hello! Stop! Stop, my friend!"
The 27-year-old can't remember that.
Not even because of how it ended up in the police protocol that he should have described the alleged perpetrator as a German with blond hair and blue eyes.
A translation mistake?
Ernst's defense attorney Mustafa Kaplan persists.
Ahmad I. says in court that he had thought of a robbery and tried to get up.
"But one leg was functionless. I kept falling over and felt such warmth in my body."
Under the light of a lantern he saw blood on his sweater.
He wanted to call for help, the cell phone was stuck in the sleeve of his jacket.
"I thought I was going to die."
No car stopped, so Ahmad I dragged himself to the street and lay down in the middle of the lane until a driver stopped, pulled him back to the sidewalk, provided first aid and notified an ambulance.
The seriously injured man had to be operated on.
The stab wound between the shoulder blade and the spine was four and a half inches deep, three inches long;
Nerve cords were severed, both legs were paralyzed;
the perpetrator barely missed an artery.
Markus H. provokes with his facial expressions
Chairman Thomas Sagebiel asks what consequences the attack had on him.
"It destroyed my life," says Ahmad I. Since then, he has suffered from insomnia and anxiety attacks, consulted orthopedists, neurologists and psychologists, and had to take medication every day.
He wondered how long he would have to live like this.
Damage to three vertebrae causes severe pain in both legs.
Sagebiel goes into detail: Does he also have erectile dysfunction?
Ahmad I. refers to doctor's letters and certificates.
To the astonishment of many in the hall, Chief Public Prosecutor Dieter Killmer presses the button on his microphone.
Looking at the defendant Markus H., the representative of the Federal Prosecutor's Office says that he considers his behavior to be "inappropriate".
Markus H. has been attending the negotiation since the beginning of June with a constant grin.
At this moment, however, it seems particularly mean - and deliberate.
The Lübcke family's lawyer, Holger Matt, reacts with an unusually quick-tempered response.
"Scandalous!" He shouts with a flush of anger on his face, "scandalous!"
A provocation that the co-plaintiff could obviously have been spared: Ahmad Is's lawyer, Alexander Hoffmann, reminds the 5th Criminal Senate of his request before questioning his client.
In it, he also referred to the doctor's letters in order not to spread the topic in public.
Ahmad I. is the only witness, but the description of the perpetrator remains vague in court due to the circumstances.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office is convinced that it was important for Ernst to act out his hatred of refugees through the attack and to stir up fear among people of foreign origin seeking protection so that they leave Germany again.
Ernst denies the allegations.
He follows Ahmad I's explanations with downcast eyes, his face ashen.
For attorney Hoffmann there is no doubt that Ernst is the culprit.
During a search of the Ernst family's house, a knife was found: on its blade there was DNA that has extremely rare characteristics, such as those of Ahmad I.
A comparison between the type and quality of the knife and the injuries suffered by Ahmad I. has shown, according to an expert, that the knife can in principle be considered as a tool.
Stephan Ernst's hatred of foreigners
There are other indications that Ernst came into focus as the perpetrator of the attack on the refugee: The attack took place at a location that is close to Ernst's workplace and home, less than ten minutes away by bike.
In addition, Ernst was on vacation during the crime period.
It would not be the first time that Ernst would have used violence against asylum seekers in his area: in 1993 he tried to blow up accommodation for asylum seekers in Hohenstein-Steckenroth.
Ernst lived in the neighborhood at the time.
And it would not be the first time that Ernst attacked a person from behind with a knife: In 1995 he rammed a Turkish imam in the back and then in the chest in the toilet of the Wiesbaden main train station, the man barely survived.
Ernst himself described to investigators how the events on New Year's Eve 2015 in Cologne had upset him, how angry and full of hatred he was for the men who attacked women on the Domplatte.
He said that this was the impulse to mob a migrant on January 6th and destroy election posters.
Did he attack Ahmad I in this aggressive mood?
Does the act match Ernst's impulse behavior?
Ahmad I. says that he expressed his suspicions after the fact: "It was a Nazi, not a German!"
Sagebiel wants to know how he came to this assumption.
The events in Cologne gave him the first experience of "what Nazis are," replies Ahmad I. In the accommodation, he and other refugees were warned to take care of themselves.
At that time, the police checked violent criminals who had already become suspicious of similar offenses.
Seven days after the fact, they rang Stephan Ernst's doorbell and checked his bike.
Ernst stated that he had the day off.
That's it
If the officers had searched the house and found the knife back then, the identification of the DNA features might have been clearer.
"And the murder of Walter Lübcke could have been prevented," says Alexander Hoffmann.
At that time there was "a massive mobilization of Nazis", but first an investigation was carried out against his client's roommates, and one of them was even taken into custody.
"Since the NSU one ought to know better," Hoffmann said later at a press conference.
Nevertheless, all of the clues together give him a clear picture.
"In addition, the act fits with Ernst's impulse behavior."
"I fled to find protection, but my life was destroyed here," says Ahmad I. After Stephan Ernst's arrest, he turned to the investigators with the support of the victim counseling center.
This was the only way the attack was rolled out again on that January evening in 2016.
The Federal Association of Advice Centers for People Affected by Right-Wing, Racist and Anti-Semitic Violence calls for donations for Ahmad I.
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