Suspect in Munich car ramming must be expelled, says Scholz
Following the death of a 37-year-old woman and her daughter two days after a car ramming at a demonstration, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the alleged perpetrator must be expelled.
"He will be returned to the country he comes from after serving his sentence," the chancellor said at an election campaign stop in Munich on Saturday.
Anyone who commits such an act had no basis for any appeal, Scholz asserted. The 24-year-old Afghan must be convicted for his "unforgivable act."
The Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation had previously announced that a mother and her young daughter have died from the serious injuries they had suffered in the attack.
On Thursday, at least 39 people were injured while driving his car into a demonstration by the verdi trade union, according to police.
Investigators are currently working on the assumption that the attack was motivated by Islamism. The driver is now in custody.
"What happened here is really bad," said Scholz, who visited the scene of the crime in Munich city centre before the election rally.
He said that clearly condemning the act was important "to prevent such acts" in future. "We will never resign ourselves to such acts," Scholz added.
He said that Germany is currently struggling with its openness, but it is also clear that the country "needs its openness." It is now up to the country to set an example "that we will not allow ourselves to be divided, but will stand together."
Liberal voices who argue that Germany as one of the world's richest nations has a moral responsibility to help refugees are increasingly at odds with conservatives and the right who want the country to get tough on migration.
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