As the hours pass since the terrorist attack, the information about the perpetrator increases. According to the perpetrator, he had earlier engaged the authorities for another case.
Specifically, the Rostock District Court sentenced him to a fine of 90 days’ wages on September 4, 2013. The reason was “disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes.”
He was also convicted of another case
But this was not his only involvement with the authorities. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office had investigated him for “abuse of emergency calls”.
According to the investigation, the killer appeared at police station 44 in February 2024 to file a complaint. He was apparently making confused statements and was clearly unhappy with the behavior of the officers on duty. The investigation revealed that the perpetrator had called the emergency number of the fire service and asked for “legal advice”.
The competent court fined him and he appealed. In fact, this was to be tried a day before the terrorist attack in Magdeburg, that is on December 19. However, Taleb A. did not appear for the hearing in room 1104 of the Tiergarten District Court in Berlin – the appeal was rejected.
It is also striking that Taleb A. had already come to Germany in 2006, regularly entering the country with his passport and visa. However, he did not apply for asylum until 2016 – possibly because otherwise he would have had to leave the country.
The book he wrote about Islam
According to information from SPIEGEL, during the hearing at the Halberstadt branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), he stated that e. He also wrote a book titled “Creative undoing of Islam”. A. also started a crowdfunding campaign for it, but found almost no backers. The book was never published.
According to information from SPIEGEL, Taleb A. also backed up his threat of prosecution in Saudi Arabia to BAMF with an alleged incident at the Saudi embassy in Berlin. There he was threatened with execution in 2013 if he returned.
The conviction did not play a role in the asylum application
Following his application, Taleb A. was granted asylum under Article 16a of the Basic Law, the highest protection status. The 2013 conviction, which was below the criminal record threshold, was not disqualifying. Apparently in 2019, BAMF carried out a regular asylum review – as it has done with all asylum decisions since the great migration wave of 2015 and 2016. Asylum confirmed. In 2023, Taleb A. received a residence permit from the immigration authorities of the Salzlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt in Bernburg.
Regarding his family situation, Taleb A. stated in 2016 that his father had already died and his mother, one brother and two sisters were still living in his hometown. According to his own statements, he had kept his conversion from Islam a secret from his family for a long time in the crowdfunding campaign. The friends he had talked to about it had dismissed it – he himself wanted to continue his course nonetheless.
According to the AfD he was not a member of the party
The perpetrator had openly expressed his support for the AfD in posts he made on social media. He even dreamed of a joint project with the largely far-right extremist party.
According to the AfD, however, he was not a member of the party. “We can rule out that the attacker in Magdeburg was a member of the AfD,” a spokesman for party leader Alice Weidel told the Rheinische Post. In fact, he clarified that “neither was there ever an application to join the party”.
Investigations into the motive are ongoing
Regarding the attacker’s motive, Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Rainer Haselov said investigations were continuing, but noted that “due to the severity of the attack,” the case would likely be taken over by the federal attorney general, which would mean the motive is considered terrorist.
Saudi Arabia, however, expressed its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims and confirmed its policy of “renunciation of violence”.
The magazine Der Spiegel spoke of a “mysterious motive”, while noting that “an Islamist motive is almost impossible”.
