Germany sentences to life ISIS militant for stabbing attack

A Syrian national convicted over an Islamist-motivated stabbing attack in the western German city of Bielefeld last year was sentenced on June 1 to life imprisonment.

The court also ordered preventive detention due to the severity of the crimes, meaning he could remain in custody even if released early from his sentence, Caliber.Az reports, citing dpa.

The verdict matched the request made by federal prosecutors.

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court found the 36-year-old defendant guilty on four counts of attempted murder and determined that the offence was of a particularly serious nature.

The man had earlier admitted responsibility for the stabbing attack outside a bar in Bielefeld, where four people sustained serious injuries.

According to prosecutors, the suspect was driven by support for Islamic State and intended to kill as many people as possible during the assault. Investigators said he attacked a group of football supporters outside the venue in May last year using a modified walking stick fitted with an 18-centimetre blade.

The victims suffered life-threatening stab wounds, while witnesses reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar” during the incident.

Prosecutors also stated that the defendant had spent years involved with the Islamic State in Syria before entering Germany in 2023. They made it clear that he sent a video claiming responsibility for the attack to an Islamic State contact shortly before carrying it out, and was found carrying a hand-drawn Islamic State flag.

The defence pointed to the man’s troubled upbringing and depression, requesting a reduced prison term of 12 years.

The suspect was detained near Düsseldorf one day after the attack, after police received information from one of his cousins.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov