German justice on Friday sentenced a 15-year-old boy to four years in prison for planning an attack on a Christmas market in Leverkusen, in western Germany. The verdict was given for, among other things, “conspiracy to commit murder” et “disturbance of public order by threat of committing crimes”. According to the spokesperson for the Cologne court, the teenager, who had never been convicted, made “full confession” during the hearing.
The accused, arrested at the end of November, had become radicalised in the autumn of 2023, according to the courts. His plan was to rent a truck and drive it into one of the Christmas markets in the city of Leverkusen with the aim of“crush as many people as possible and kill them”According to the indictment, a 16-year-old alleged accomplice from Brandenburg (east) was to have been tasked with filming the crime and then publishing the footage. He will be tried in July.
According to the same source, the 15-year-old defendant had published a video in a discussion group in which he announced an attack against supposed “infidels”. A symbol identifying the Islamic State jihadist militia was visible in the background of the video.
Several attacks prevented
In recent months, several police operations in Germany have targeted Islamist circles and, according to the authorities, have prevented several attacks. Three minors suspected of preparing a terrorist attack in Germany for Islamist reasons were arrested and placed in detention at the end of March.
Two suspected Afghan jihadists suspected of having prepared an attack near the Swedish parliament were arrested in Thuringia (in eastern Germany) in March. At the end of December 2023, three suspected Islamists were arrested on suspicion of having planned an attack on New Year’s Eve against the Cologne Cathedral. The deadliest jihadist attack committed on German soil dates back to December 2016: a ram truck attack claimed by the Islamic State group left 12 dead at a Christmas market in the center of Berlin.
