A court in Germany on Friday sentenced to life in prison a man who rammed a car into people at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg in 2024, killing six people and injuring and traumatizing more than 300 others.
The acts committed by 51-year-old Talib al-Abd al-Muhsin, originally from Saudi Arabia, were “extremely serious”, according to the court in Magdeburg. According to AFP, based on this court decision, it is less likely that the attacker would be released unconditionally in the future.
Tragic attack in Magdeburg
The car attack on the Christmas markets in Magdeburg on December 20, 2024, which lasted just over one minute, claimed the lives of five women and a nine-year-old boy. The attack, according to Reuters, shocked Germany and raised tensions over the sensitive issue of migration, just months before parliamentary elections in February 2025.
Prosecutors charged the attacker with the murder of six people and 338 counts of attempted murder in the attack, which he planned for several weeks.
Defendant’s defense
During the months-long trial, Talib al-Abd al-Muhsin admitted that he had planned the attack, but denied that he had hit the people on purpose. The AFP agency reports that the defendant’s statements seemed disjointed at times and also contained nonsensical conspiracy theories and references to extreme right-wing ideologies. At the same time, the man declared in November 2025 that he was driving the car with which he ran into people at the Christmas markets.
A psychiatric expert diagnosed the attacker with narcissistic personality disorder, but found that he is fully criminally responsible and continues to pose a danger, reports AFP.
Challenging trial
This trial required the construction of a huge temporary courtroom on the outskirts of Magdeburg to accommodate hundreds of victims, relatives and others. The hearings were attended by more than 100 witnesses and approximately 40 lawyers representing 200 parties in the civil proceedings.
