Halle attack: the hatred trial against Jews opens in Germany

In the context of a resurgence of the far-right threat, the trial of one of the perpetrators of the worst post-war anti-Semitic attack attempt in the country opens Tuesday, July 21 in Germany .

The accused, Stephan Balliet, a 28-year-old German right-wing extremist, short-haired and dressed in jeans and black sneakers, said after removing his mask and having the handcuffs removed that he expected to express during the day.

"They don't share his vision of the world"

On October 9 and in the middle of the religious festival of Yom Kippur, he tried to carry out an attack in Halle, in eastern Germany.

Armed to the teeth, he stormed the local synagogue filled with 52 faithful before, failing to enter, to turn his weapons against two passers-by.

The man is being prosecuted for double murder, attempted murders of nine other people and incitement to racial hatred. He faces life imprisonment with a safety period of 15 years.

In #Germany 🇩🇪, the trial of the author of the worst post-war #antisemite attempt in the country opens on Tuesday.

On October 9, the assailant attacked a synagogue in the city of #Halle, killing nine people ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/lF4AvB8ca0

The Magdeburg court, in the Land of Saxony-Anhalt, has scheduled 18 days of hearing for this river trial which should last until mid-October.

"My clients want to know how it happened and why. They will look the author in the eye to let him know that they do not share his vision of the world", explained before the opening of the trial to AFP. lawyer for nine civil parties, Mark Lupschitz.

A published manifesto

Stephan Balliet's lawyer, Hans-Dieter Weber, simply told him that his client was "polite, well behaved and friendly".

Stephan Balliet is accused of having committed "an attack against citizens of Jewish faith with anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic motivation", recalled during the reading of the indictment one of the prosecutors, Kai Lohse .

It was dressed in military attire that he had tried to forcefully enter the religious building with explosive charges and firearms, including a rifle made using a 3D printer.

After failing to break down the door, he shot a passerby and then, further on, a man in a kebab restaurant, targeted for his immigrant clientele. The police finally arrested him after a chase.

German domestic intelligence drew a parallel with the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, a few months earlier against two mosques, which had killed 51 people.

The accused indeed filmed and broadcast live his assault in which he denied the existence of the Shoah and attacked the Jews. He also posted on the Internet a "manifesto", which appeared the next day, in which he expressed his hatred of the Jews.

Today begins the trial of the author of the anti-Semitic attack in #Halle. Inspired by the #Christchurch attacks, this neo-Nazi declared that "this society (wanted) to replace it with Muslims and negroes". Conspiracy, racism and crimes.https: //t.co/IyF0parzd8

Its objective, "to commit a massacre"

For justice, he wanted to "commit a massacre". Only the solidity of the synagogue door, double-locked, prevented it.

Socially isolated and living with his mother in a remote village in Saxony-Anhalt, the shaven-headed man of neo-Nazi conspiracy theories had dropped out of school and spent most of his time behind a computer.

After examining the alleged killer, psychiatrist Norbert Leygraf describes him in a 100-page document, viewed by Der Spiegel magazine, as having a complex personality disorder with autistic characteristics. However, he was aware of the injustice of his actions.

Placed in pre-trial detention and closely watched, he nevertheless attempted at Pentecost to escape from prison by climbing a fence before being arrested shortly after, provoking indignation in the Jewish community.

The Halle attack comes amid a resurgence of far-right terrorism in the country. A month ago, the trial of a neo-Nazi sympathizer began, the alleged killer of a pro-migrant elected member of Angela Merkel's conservative party.

In February, a man supporting racist and anti-Semitic theses killed nine people of foreign origin in Hanau, near Frankfurt.

With AFP

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