The act horrified people all over Germany. Now the murder trial surrounding the knife attack on the train near Brokstedt is coming to a conclusion. The verdict will also address the question of culpability.
The verdict in the murder trial surrounding the knife attack on the regional train in Brokstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, will be pronounced today in the Itzehoe regional court. The 34-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim A. is charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder in conjunction with dangerous or serious bodily harm.
In their plea, the public prosecutor demanded a life sentence. To this end, the particular severity of the guilt should be determined. The defendant acted out of frustration over an unsuccessful appointment with the immigration authorities in Kiel.
Process lasted more than 10 months
The trial, which lasted more than ten months and lasted 38 days and involved 97 witnesses and experts, also dealt with the question of whether the defendant was responsible. The defense attorney believes the 34-year-old is not guilty due to a psychotic disorder and is demanding that he be admitted to a forensic psychiatric facility. If the court did not follow this, he pleaded for a prison sentence of ten years for two counts of manslaughter and four counts of dangerous or serious bodily harm.
A psychiatric expert had denied that Ibrahim A. had psychosis. He is fully responsible. The expert Arno Deister said he saw psychotic symptoms, but no psychosis. There is severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The presiding judge Johann Lohmann has already stated that the chamber assumes that the defendant had PTSD at the time of the crime, but not psychosis.
Failure to communicate between authorities
At the beginning of the trial in July 2023, Ibrahim A. initially denied the crime, but later admitted it. According to the findings, on the afternoon of January 25, 2023, he pulled out a kitchen knife on the train near Brokstedt and stabbed passengers with it. A 17-year-old and her boyfriend, who was two years older, died, and four other people were seriously injured. The crime also concerned politicians because there were failures in the exchange of information between authorities.
Ibrahim A. grew up in the Gaza Strip and, according to the findings, came to Germany in 2014. He initially lived in North Rhine-Westphalia and later moved to Kiel. Until a few days before the crime, the defendant had been in custody in Hamburg for another crime. There and later in custody in Schleswig-Holstein he was noticed as unruly. Several doctors reported in court about the suspected diagnosis of psychosis.
Source: Stern
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