
German prosecutors have filed a 115-page indictment charging a 50-year-old Saudi doctor with six counts of murder, 338 counts of attempted murder and 309 counts of bodily harm for driving a rented BMW X3 through the Christmas market in Magdeburg on 20 December 2024. The one-minute attack killed five women aged 45-75 and a nine-year-old boy and injured more than 300 people as the vehicle reached speeds of up to 48 kph. Investigators say the suspect planned the rampage for several weeks and acted alone. According to the indictment, the defendant sought to kill as many people as possible out of frustration over an unresolved civil lawsuit, and toxicology tests showed no drugs or alcohol in his system. Prosecutors added that the man, an ex-Muslim who had expressed far-right views online, does not fit the profile of an extremist attack motivated by religion or terrorism. The Magdeburg regional court will decide whether to commit the case to trial. If convicted of murder, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under German law.
Attaque au marché de Noël de Magdebourg : vers un procès pour le médecin saoudien qui avait foncé sur la foule https://t.co/kKx5mYnWCH
Suspect in car-ramming attack on German Christmas market charged with murder https://t.co/Lr3WAp4w73 https://t.co/s7C9bcOkj9
The suspect in a car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market is charged with murder https://t.co/E8TKumTDFQ https://t.co/XBJM7A2HsO
