He stood in the way of the Würzburg knife attacker: Chia Rabiei was allowed to stay in Germany

A man stabbed three people in Würzburg in 2021.

The refugee Chia Rabiei stood in the way of the perpetrator.

The helper can now stay in Germany.

Würzburg – A refugee threatened with deportation who bravely stood in the way of a knife attacker in Würzburg in 2021 is allowed to stay in Germany.

According to the Würzburg administrative court, this was decided on Monday, March 20th.

Chia Rabiei is allowed to stay in Germany: he had stood in the way of the Würzburg knife attacker

Chia Rabiei (43) has Iranian citizenship.

According to his own statements, he had been living in Germany for around 20 months on June 25, 2021 when a mentally ill man from Somalia stabbed three people he did not know in downtown Würzburg and injured several people.

Rabiei confronted the attacker.

Videos of these scenes, which have since been circulating on the Internet, show the 43-year-old fending off the armed attacker with a backpack.

Rabiei received several awards for his civil courage.

"We are all very happy," Rabiei's attorney said after the trial.

The 43-year-old now has a residence permit for three years and can then apply for naturalization.

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Eyewitness Chia Rabiei, a Kurd with Iranian citizenship, stands in front of the downtown department store where a man attacked people with a knife

© Carolin Gißibl/dpa/dpa-Bildfunk

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Chia Rabiei is allowed to stay in Germany - there may be problems in his homeland Iran

Rabiei came to Germany on November 1, 2019 and applied for asylum.

However, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) rejected the application with a decision dated September 8, 2022, and the refugee appealed against it.

According to Rabiei's lawyer, the administrative court has now determined that the 43-year-old's popularity in this country is now threatening problems in his home country of Iran.

The decision is not yet final.

The Bamf can apply to the Bavarian Administrative Court for approval of the appeal.

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List of rubrics: © Carolin Gißibl/dpa/dpa-Bildfunk