Attack on Christmas market: trial of death driver stalls shortly after starting



The trial of the attackers from the Christmas market in Magdeburg began in Magdeburg.
© Jan Woitas/​dpa

The Magdeburg Christmas market attack trial was stopped before the indictment was read out. The reason for the break, about three-quarters of an hour after the start of the trial, were two motions from the defense.

In it, the defendant’s lawyer Taleb al-Abdulmohsen specifically complained that his client had to sit in a glass box during the trial for security reasons. This is disproportionate, criticizes Thomas Rutkowski.

The trial before the regional court in a specially built hall took place under tight security. The defendant, who is from Saudi Arabia, was taken to the trial by helicopter from Burg prison. Masked bailiffs took the 51-year-old into the hall and sat next to him in a box.

Presiding judge Dirk Sternberg justified the security measures, among other things, by saying that defendants must also be protected from possible retaliation.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:251110-930-272073/1