In the trial over the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market that left six people dead, an appeal by the defendant has failed. Taleb A. unsuccessfully challenged the fact that the Magdeburg Regional Court held a hearing on December 18 without him present, the Naumburg Higher Regional Court announced on Wednesday. On that day, A. was unfit to stand trial for health reasons.
It was the 13th day of hearings in the trial at the Regional Court, which began on November 10. As early as the second day of the trial, A. admitted that he had planned an attack. He said he had “attacked deliberately.” However, he denied deliberately running over people. He also announced a hunger strike that day.
Because the Regional Court conducted the hearing on December 18 in his absence, his defense lawyer filed an appeal. The Higher Regional Court has now declared it inadmissible. Decisions made before a verdict in a criminal trial cannot be challenged by appeal. An exception applies only if the defendant has not yet been questioned, but that was not the case in Magdeburg, as A. had already said a great deal in court about the allegations against him.
According to the indictment, the doctor from Saudi Arabia drove a car through the Christmas market on December 20, 2024, hitting numerous people. A nine-year-old boy and five women aged between 45 and 75 were killed, and more than 300 other people were injured. In the view of the Naumburg Public Prosecutor General’s Office, A. intended to kill “an indeterminately large number of people.”
The hearing before the Regional Court is scheduled to continue on Thursday. On Wednesday, the court said that, according to the current assessment, the defendant would be fit to stand trial and would have to attend the hearing. Hearings in the trial have so far been scheduled through mid-March.
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