Germany news: Christmas market attack suspect trial starts

Taleb A., whose name is withheld for privacy reasons, was in court on Monday in the eastern city of Magdeburg over an attack on a Christmas market last December.

The car-ramming attack, which killed 5 women and one child, shocked Germany and prompted dozens of similar markets across the country to beef up security measures, including car barriers.

A further 338 people were injured in the attack on the crowded Christmas market.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, 51-year-old Taleb A. had been in Germany since 2006 and was a doctor in the town of Bernburg.

He was detained shortly after the attack and has been in custody since.

He is charged with 6 counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder, among other charges.

Some 180 victims and relatives will be co-plaintiffs in the case, making it one of the largest in Germany’s post-war history.

Taleb A. was vocally critical of Islam and what he saw as Germany’s lax immigration policies.

He also espoused a number of conspiracy theories. Prosecutors say he voiced his anger online, and was then driven to the attack out of a mix of “dissatisfaction and frustration.”

He aimed “to kill as many people as possible,” they said. He faces life in prison.

Guten Morgen from DW’s newsroom in Bonn.

The main story Germany is talking about today is the trial of a 51-year-old doctor accused of killing 6 people and injuring 338 in an attack last December that shocked Germany.

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