German Interior Minister Nancy Feser on Wednesday urged the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) not to take advantage of last week’s attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg.
Five people were killed and more than 200 were injured when a car drove into a crowd at a city Christmas market in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
What did Feser say?
“For the AfD, I can only say this: Any attempt to take advantage of such a terrible act and abuse the suffering of the victims is abhorrent,” Feser said in comments to Funke Media Group, a major publisher of German newspapers and magazines. Is.”
“It just shows the character of people who do things like this,” he said.
The AfD held a rally in Magdeburg on Monday. Police said around 3,500 people had participated.
Germany is set to hold snap elections in late February. The AfD has often finished second to the conservative CDU/CSU coalition in voting.
Referring to Friday’s attack, Feser said, “We are doing everything we can to explain this act. We mourn the dead and our thoughts are with their families.”
What do we know about the suspected culprit?
The 50-year-old suspected criminal, identified as Taleb A*, remains in pre-trial detention.
Police continued to investigate the possible motives of the man, who is originally from Saudi Arabia and has lived in Germany since 2006.
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Germany’s DPA news agency reported that Saudi authorities had requested the suspect’s extradition last year.
“Right now, we also have to support first responders and emergency personnel who have experienced terrible things and gone above and beyond,” Feser said.
*Editor’s note: DW follows the German press code, which emphasizes the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected perpetrators or victims and urges us to refrain from disclosing the full names of alleged perpetrators.
sdi/wd (AFP, dpa)
