The city of Magdeburg and its police department could face criminal charges for failing to stop last week's Christmas market attack that killed five people, with criminal charges being laid and an investigation into their abilities underway.
In a German town, police themselves and local authorities are under investigation for possible misconduct after terrorists were able to bypass security barriers erected in public areas in an apparent attempt to mowing down pedestrians.
Last week, a man drove a high-performance BMW car through a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, killing five people, including a nine-year-old boy and four adult women. A 50-year-old male suspect, described as a former Muslim with a history of making threats against Germany, is in police custody.
Ensuring safety at Christmas markets has been a hot topic in Germany for many years, ever since the 2016 Berlin attack in which Tunisian “refugee” Anis Amri drove a stolen truck at high speed and plowed into a crowd at the city's Christmas market. are. In fact, Western intelligence agencies have known for some time that the Islamic State group was pressuring European operatives to specifically target Christmas events and markets. A month before the incident, American tourists were advised to avoid crowded places during the festive season due to the threat from ISIS.
As a result, so-called “diversity barriers” – large concrete blocks surrounding public spaces to prevent unwanted vehicle entry – have become a common sight in European cities. But the city's plan may not have been weak or poorly executed, as the alleged Magdeburg attackers managed to drive into a secure area of the city's market and kill him last week. There are concerns about this.
The state government of Saxony-Anhalt made the following announcement: report ZDF Heute reported that criminal charges have been filed against the municipality of Magdeburg, which is responsible for running the Christmas market, and the local police. The state interior ministry announced that it had filed a complaint with the Magdeburg public prosecutor's office.
The market's security plan and its implementation will now be considered as part of the criminal investigation.
Immediately after the attack, witnesses and media reports indicated that the emergency access path for ambulances had not been blocked by parked police trucks, as required by the plan, and that vehicles were indeed allowed to enter the pedestrian area of the market. He claimed that it had not been closed. This was confirmed by the Interior Ministry of Saxony-Anhalt. report Professor Targetschau says that this is the case and that he is currently investigating how such a mistake could have been made.
The broadcaster said additional police officers from the neighboring city of Halle an der Saale may be brought in to take over the investigation, given that the local police force itself is currently under intense scrutiny. .
