In Germany, the far right gathered in Magdeburg after the deadly attack

The German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party organized a demonstration “memorial” in Magdeburg, Monday December 23, for the victims of the deadly vehicular attack which relaunched the debate on security and immigration in the country. At the same time, the “Gib Hass keine Chance” (“Give Hate No Chance”) movement gathered near the scene where five people were killed, including a 9-year-old boy, and more than 200 injured. in this city located 130 kilometers west of Berlin.

“Terror has arrived in our city” declared Jan Wenzel Schmidt, head of the AfD in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in front of several hundred people. He condemned “monstrous political failure” which led to the attack, the suspect of which is a Saudi refugee. “We must close the borders (…)we can no longer welcome madmen from all countries”he added, in front of the anti-immigration party activists.

Party co-chair Alice Weidel asked “change so that we can finally live in safety again”while the crowd sang “expulsion, expulsion, expulsion!” » His party, hostile to migrants, anti-system and pro-Russian, is credited with around 20% of voting intentions in the polls, behind the conservatives (32%) and ahead of the center-left party of Olaf Scholz (15%). But no party wants to cooperate with the AfD.

For its part, the anti-AfD initiative declared “to note with fear and anger that people want to use this cruel act for their politics” and called for “tolerance and humanity”.

Riyadh considered the main suspect as potentially “dangerous”

Under pressure, the government of Olaf Scholz promised on Sunday a rapid and thorough investigation to clarify possible errors by the authorities in preventing the deadly attack. Saudi Arabia had asked Berlin for the extradition of the 50-year-old Saudi, Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, after repeatedly warning that he “could be dangerous”a source close to the government in Riyadh told Agence France-Presse on Monday.

Living in Germany since 2006, this Saudi psychiatrist had refugee status. In his numerous posts on social media, he had expressed views hostile to Islam, his anger against German immigration officials and his support for far-right conspiracy stories about a “Islamization” of Europe.

Other elements about this man leaked into the media on Monday: according to the local newspaper Central German newspaperhis colleagues doubted his skills and nicknamed him “Doctor Google” because he regularly consulted the Internet before issuing a diagnosis. Daily life The world claimed he had been treated for mental illness.

The German Criminal Police Association (BDK) warned on Monday against “premature accusations or even the political exploitation of events”especially at a time when the condition of some victims remains very serious.

Safety in question

The city authorities are also in the crosshairs, with some accusing them of poor security. The alleged perpetrator was able to take an unsecured access route to the Christmas market and then drove into the crowd in a powerful rental BMW vehicle. The municipality of Magdeburg defended itself by explaining that this opening was reserved for ambulances or firefighters in the event of an emergency.

However, the security of the Christmas markets had been considerably reinforced, in particular by the installation of concrete bollards at their entrances, after a similar act committed eight years ago on a Christmas market in Berlin, which left 13 dead.

Germany had also tightened its security policy this year, in particular through reinforced controls on the carrying of weapons, following several deadly knife attacks, one of which left three dead and eight injured during a festival. summer in Solingen (west).

“A security concept is only as strong as its weakest link”judged Peter Neumann, counterterrorism expert, to the weekly The mirror. “If an entry point is not protected, all the other concrete bollards are useless”.