Latest news with #Solingen
Telegraph
3 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
I deserve a life sentence: Syrian admits triple murder at German festival
A Syrian man has said he 'deserves and expects a life sentence' after pleading guilty to killing three people at a German festival last year. Issa al-Hasan, 27, a suspected member of the Islamic State group, made the confession at the start of his trial, held under tight security in Duesseldorf. The attack at the mid-summer street festival in Solingen in August 2024, which also injured 10 people, was one in a series of attacks attributed to asylum seekers and migrants that pushed immigration to the top of the political agenda in Germany. Hasan was an asylum seeker from Syria who had been slated for deportation, but authorities had failed to remove him from the country. He is charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership of a foreign terrorist organisation. Sitting behind a protective glass screen, he admitted in a statement read by his lawyer that he had ' committed a grave crime '. 'Three people died at my hands. I seriously injured others,' Hasan said. 'Some of them survived only by luck. They could have died, too. 'I deserve and expect a life sentence.' Prosecutors say he set out to harm 'non-believers' at the 'festival for diversity'. He allegedly saw his targets 'as representatives of Western society' and sought 'to take revenge against them for the military actions of Western states'. IS later posted on messaging app Telegram that a 'soldier' had carried out the attack in 'revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere'. Video footage allegedly showed Hasan pledging allegiance to IS. Prosecutors said he forwarded the tapes on to his IS contact just before he committed the attack. Hasan did not specifically address his alleged motivations for carrying out the attack or his supposed IS membership. A psychiatric expert told the court that the accused had denied being a radical Islamist. Two months before the attack in May 2024, a man with a knife attacked people at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, fatally wounding a police officer who intervened. The Afghan suspect went on trial in February and is also alleged to be sympathetic to the IS group. In December the same year, a Saudi man was arrested after a car ploughed through a Christmas market crowd in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds. In January, a man with a kitchen knife attacked a group of children in Aschaffenburg, killing a two-year-old boy and a man who tried to protect the toddlers. A 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested at the scene of the attack, which came during campaigning for Feb 23 elections. Just 10 days before the vote, another Afghan man was arrested on suspicion of driving a car through a street rally in Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring dozens. The centre-right CDU/CSU, which demanded tough curbs on immigration in the wake of the attacks, came first in the election with 28.5 per cent of the vote. But the biggest gains were made by the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw its share of the vote more than double to over 20 per cent.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Syrian asylum seeker who killed three people and wounded ten others in knife rampage at 'festival of diversity' after he was slated for deportation pleads guilty at German court
A Syrian asylum seeker suspected of belonging to the Islamic State group has pleaded guilty to killing three people and wounding 10 more in a stabbing spree at a German summer festival last year. Issa Al Hasan, 27, made the confession at the start of his trial, held under tight security at the higher regional court in Duesseldorf on Tuesday. In a statement read out by his lawyer, Hasan, sitting under police guard behind a protective glass screen, admitted having 'committed a grave crime '. 'Three people died at my hands. I seriously injured others,' Hasan said of the attack in August in the western city of Solingen. 'Some of them survived only by luck. They could have died, too,' he said in the statement. 'I deserve and expect a life sentence.' The stabbing spree at the mid-summer street festival was one of a string of attacks that shocked Germany and stoked security fears. Hasan was an asylum seeker from Syria who had been slated for deportation. German authorities' failure to remove him from the country fired a bitter debate over immigration that heated up in the run-up to national elections in February this year. Hasan faces charges including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership of a foreign terrorist organisation. Prosecutors say he set out to harm 'nonbelievers' at the 'festival for diversity' in the centre of the western city of Solingen. Hasan allegedly saw his targets 'as representatives of Western society' and sought 'to take revenge against them for the military actions of Western states'. An IS member whom Hasan had contacted that month allegedly encouraged him to go ahead with the plan and promised him that the group would claim it and use it for propaganda purposes. The group later said via its Amaq outlet on the messaging app Telegram that an IS 'soldier' had carried out the attack in 'revenge' for Muslims 'in Palestine and everywhere'. Prosecutors say Hasan had filmed videos in which he pledged allegiance to IS and forwarded them on to his IS contact just before he committed the attack. Hasan did not specifically address his alleged motivations for carrying out the attack or his supposed IS membership. A psychiatric expert told the court that the accused had denied being a radical Islamist. Forensic police inspect on early August 24, 2024 the area where at three people were killed and 10 injured when Hasan attacked them with a knife on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen In the statement read out by his lawyer, Hasan said he had 'killed and injured innocent people, not unbelievers'. 'Christians, Jews and Muslims, we all are cousins, not enemies.' The stabbing spree was one in a series of attacks attributed to asylum seekers and migrants that pushed immigration to the top of the political agenda in Germany. In May 2024, a man with a knife attacked people at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, fatally wounding a police officer who intervened. The Afghan suspect went on trial in February and is also alleged to be sympathetic to the IS group. In December, a Saudi man was arrested after a car ploughed through a Christmas market crowd in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds. And in January, a man with a kitchen knife attacked a group of kindergarten children in Aschaffenburg, killing a two-year-old boy and a man who tried to protect the toddlers. A 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested at the scene of the attack, which came during campaigning for February 23 elections. Just 10 days before the vote, an Afghan man was arrested on suspicion of driving a car through a street rally in Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring dozens. The centre-right CDU/CSU, which demanded tough curbs on immigration in the wake of the attacks, came first in the election with 28.5 per cent of the vote. The biggest gains however were made by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw its share of the vote more than double to over 20 per cent.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Syrian admits triple murder at German trial for Solingen knife attack
A Syrian man has admitted carrying out a knife attack in the German town of Solingen last August in which three people were killed."I have committed a grave crime, I am prepared to accept the verdict," Issa al H said in a statement read out by his defence lawyers at the start of his trial in the western city of Dü al H, whose surname was not made public because of German privacy rules, is accused of being a member of the Islamic State jihadist group, and pledging allegiance to IS in videos shortly before the stabbings took place as Solingen was holding a three-day festival to mark its 650th anniversary and came shortly before a series of key regional elections. In the space of a year, German cities saw a string of deadly attacks, which began in Mannheim in May 2024, when an Afghan national stabbed a police officer at a of the attackers were described as having migrant backgrounds and the killings played a significant part in the national debate leading up to Germany's federal elections in February. While most mainstream parties toughened their language on migration, the far-right AfD were seen as benefiting most from the heightened climate, coming second with almost 21% of the vote. They have since narrowed the gap with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives even man accused of the 23 August Solingen knife attack had arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2022, but because he had already registered for asylum in Bulgaria he was ordered to be deported the time German authorities tried to deport him in 2023 he had Tuesday, Issa al H appeared in a high-security wing of the court in Düsseldorf wearing a blue T-shirt, and kept his head bowed for most of the time he stood in the is accused of three murders as well as 10 counts of attempted murder and further charges of grievous bodily allege he approached IS contacts on jihadist social media forums before the attack and he was then given help planning it and choosing his murder his statement read out by his lawyers, Issa al H said: "I killed innocents, not infidels."One of the people wounded in the Solingen attack sat in court on Tuesday, her arm in a sling, in a reminder of the wounds he inflicted in the Antonakis, a lawyer acting on behalf of a mother and daughter who were wounded in the attack, told public broadcaster WDR that "my clients are expecting this trial will help improve the healing process".
CNA
3 days ago
- General
- CNA
Syrian man pleads guilty to deadly knife rampage at German festival
DUSSELDORF, Germany: A Syrian man suspected of belonging to the Islamic State group pleaded guilty on Tuesday (May 27) to killing three people and wounding 10 more in a stabbing spree at a German summer festival last year. Issa Al Hasan, 27, made the confession at the start of his trial, which was held under tight security at the higher regional court in Duesseldorf. In a statement read out by his lawyer, Hasan, sitting under police guard behind a protective glass screen, admitted having "committed a grave crime". "Three people died at my hands. I seriously injured others," Hasan said of the attack in August in the western city of Solingen. "Some of them survived only by luck. They could have died, too," he said in the statement. "I deserve and expect a life sentence." The stabbing spree at the mid-summer street festival was one of a string of attacks that shocked Germany and stoked security fears. Hasan was an asylum seeker from Syria who had been slated for deportation. German authorities' failure to remove him from the country fired a bitter debate over immigration in the run-up to national elections in February this year. Hasan faces charges including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership of a foreign terror organisation. "REVENGE" FOR MUSLIMS Prosecutors say he set out to harm "nonbelievers" at the "festival for diversity" in the centre of the western city of Solingen. Hasan allegedly saw his targets "as representatives of Western society" and sought "to take revenge against them for the military actions of Western states". A member of IS whom Hasan had contacted that month allegedly encouraged him to go ahead with the plan and promised him that the group would claim it and use it for propaganda purposes. The group later said via its Amaq outlet on the Telegram messaging app that an IS "soldier" had carried out the attack in "revenge" for Muslims "in Palestine and everywhere". Prosecutors say Hasan had filmed videos in which he pledged allegiance to IS and forwarded them on to his IS contact just before he committed the attack. In the statement read out by his lawyer, Hasan recanted his alleged motivation for carrying out the attack. "I killed and injured innocent people, not unbelievers," he said. "Christians, Jews and Muslims, we all are cousins, not enemies." IMMIGRATION DEBATE The Solingen stabbing spree was one in a series of attacks attributed to asylum seekers and migrants that pushed immigration to the top of the political agenda in Germany. In May 2024, a man with a knife attacked people at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, mortally wounding a police officer who intervened. The Afghan suspect in the stabbing went on trial in February and is also alleged to be sympathetic to the IS group. In December, a Saudi man was arrested after a car rammed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds. And in January, a man with a kitchen knife attacked a group of kindergarten children in Aschaffenburg, killing a two-year-old boy and a man who tried to intervene. A 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested at the scene of the attack, which came during campaigning for elections on Feb 23. Just 10 days before the vote, an Afghan man was arrested on suspicion of ploughing a car through a street rally in Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring dozens. The centre-right CDU/CSU, which demanded tough curbs on immigration in the wake of the attacks, came first in the election with 28.5 per cent of the vote. The biggest gains however were made by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw its share of the vote more than double to over 20 per cent.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Suspect in fatal knife attack at German festival admits killings as trial starts
Issa Al H., accused of stabbing three people to death during a city festival, sits in the courtroom of the Higher Regional Court in Duesseldorf, Germany, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP) BERLIN — The suspect in a knife attack at a festival in the German city of Solingen went on trial Tuesday on murder and terrorism charges, and acknowledged his guilt as the proceedings opened. Three people were killed in the Aug. 23 attack at a 'Festival of Diversity' marking the 650th anniversary of the city in western Germany. The Syrian man, who has been identified only as Issa Al H. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested a day after the attack. He is charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership in a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State group, in the trial at the state court in Duesseldorf. There are no formal pleas in the German legal system. However, the suspect admitted responsibility for the attack in a statement read by his lawyers, German news agency dpa reported. 'I have brought severe guilt upon myself. I am prepared to accept the verdict,' he said. 'I killed innocent people, not infidels.' The Solingen incident was one of several deadly attacks in the months leading up to Germany's national election in February that involved immigrant suspects, pushing migration to the forefront of the political agenda in that vote. It highlighted problems with returning rejected asylum-seekers to the first country where they entered the European Union, as is supposed to happen under EU rules. The suspect was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria in 2023 but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided expulsion. Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison in Germany. The Duesseldorf court has scheduled trial sessions until late September. Associated Press, The Associated Press
