The court also noted the particular gravity of his guilt, which practically rules out release following a minimum period of 15 years in prison. It also imposed subsequent preventive detention.
The Syrian showed no remorse, no compassion and had announced further crimes, a representative of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said. He followed the slogan of the terrorist group Islamic State to turn the entire world into a theater of war.
The confessed Islamist first killed a 35-year-old man on the street in Duisburg at night on April 9th with at least 28 stab wounds. Nine days later, he stabbed and seriously injured four visitors with a knife in a Duisburg fitness studio. “I wanted to kill as many people as possible,” he confessed, and: “I wanted to commit more acts until I was killed, so that I would die as a martyr.”
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The defendant’s indifference was shocking for the victims and their families, the co-plaintiffs said. The defense attorney had not made a request: “My client didn’t speak to me. I was able to stop him on the first day, but then he made a statement that went beyond the content of the accusation.”
The 27-year-old spoke once more on Monday: “You can do whatever and how you want. That’s just life here in this world. We hope that God will take us to paradise,” he said. He showed no reaction to the verdict on Tuesday.
