Federal prosecutors charged Farhad N., an Afghan national, with two counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder after he drove his car into a Verdi trade union demonstration in Munich last February. Two people — a 37-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter — were killed and many others were seriously injured. Prosecutors say the suspect cited an "excessive religious motivation" and claimed he acted to kill Germans indiscriminately in reaction to the suffering of Muslims in predominantly Islamic countries. The Higher Regional Court in Munich must approve the charges. Political leaders across the spectrum reacted, calling for security measures and deportation of non-citizen assailants.
The suspect, named Farhad N. in accordance with Germany's privacy laws, is accused of two charges of murder and 44 charges of attempted murder, the prosecution said, with his motive being his "excessive religious motivation." Farhad N., an Afghan national, said he decided to carry out the attack and kill Germans indiscriminately as a reaction to the suffering of Muslims in predominantly Islamic countries, according to the prosecution.
"Every single one of these acts is unbearable," Scholz of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) said back then, adding that assailants who are not German citizens must be deported after committing such an act. Then-opposition leader and now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the safety of the people in Germany would be a priority for his future government. Merz belongs to the conservative Christian Democratic Union party.
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