Attacks on Turkish shops, arson - and the plan to do even worse: After the attacks in Waldkraiburg, the higher regional court pronounced the verdict.
But questions remain unanswered.
Munich / Waldkraiburg - A riddle remains at the end of the process: "How can it be that a young man who is consistently described as reserved, courteous and friendly can commit such acts?" Asks the presiding judge at the Munich Higher Regional Court.
Someone “who was well integrated, who was an avid soccer player”, who completed his school and also his professional training without any significant difficulties - “how someone like that could become so radical”.
The judge imposed a prison sentence of nine years and six months against the 27-year-old man who had spread fear and horror in Waldkraiburg in Upper Bavaria in 2020.
He admitted that his actions increased: from stink bombs thrown on Turkish shops to fire attacks to planned bomb attacks on the Ditib central mosque in Cologne and also planned shootings of imams.
The pipe bomb was built in the basement of his parents' house, which caused around four million euros in damage when he set fire to the grocery store, which found instructions on how to build bombs on the Internet and produced what the court calls "lightning bolts".
The court convicted him of attempted murder in 26 cases because 26 people were in their apartments above the Turkish greengrocer when the young man set him on fire.
In addition, there is bodily harm, property damage, serious arson - and the preparation of a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state.
The motive: "Hatred of all people of Turkish origin"
His plan was to incite the Turkish community in Germany to violent acts "and to bring about civil war-like conditions," says the presiding judge.
The motive that the German accused, who himself is of Turkish origin, admitted: “Hatred of all people of Turkish origin”.
The young man himself admitted that he was an Islamist and Salafist, convinced of the Sharia and the terrorist organization “Islamic State”.
He radicalized himself via Internet videos, made contact with well-known Salafists and glorified jihad.
He posted brutal execution videos on Instagram.
The man's arrest on May 8, 2020 could have prevented further acts. When the police intervened, he had pipe bombs and kilos of explosives with him, which he had previously stored in his car in an underground car park in Garching an der Alz for a long time. In court, the defendant admitted that he had planned very different acts: attacks on several mosques of the Islamic Association Ditib, on the Turkish consulate general in Munich and also on the Ditib central mosque in Cologne.
In her closing statement, the representative of the Federal Prosecutor's Office said the acts had "made the community of Turkish origin in Germany as a whole" very insecure.
She had demanded thirteen and a half years in prison, the defense a prison sentence of seven years.
The fact that he got off relatively lightly with his verdict - despite 26 murder attempts and preparations for an attack - may also be due to the fact that he has been shown to be mentally ill.
In its judgment, the Munich Higher Regional Court imposed further placement in the closed psychiatry into which he had already been admitted during the trial.
The accused is schizophrenic, according to the court. "Without the schizophrenia, the attacks carried out by the defendant in Waldkraiburg are inconceivable," says the presiding judge. But they are "just as inconceivable without the Islamist-jihadist ideology". This is "the foundation on which schizophrenia has saddled up". dpa
