Courtroom A 101 of the Munich Justice Center has no windows. If he had one, with a bit of luck you might even be able to see all the way to Stiglmaierplatz. From there it’s just a few steps to the intersection of Seidlstrasse/Karlstrasse, where an attack that shook the city took place almost a year ago. Two people died and dozens were injured. It’s less than a five minute walk from the courthouse to the crime scene.
Farhad N., the man who carried out the attack, is led into the hall by eight police officers at around 10:15 a.m. on Friday. The start of the trial was delayed by three quarters of an hour due to the large number of visitors. The defendant holds a red folder in front of his face and sits down. He then raises his right hand several times with his index finger outstretched towards the photographers and cameramen. The so-called Tauhīd finger Initially corresponds to an Islamic creed, but is also used primarily by Islamiststo express their contempt for democracy.
It was February 13, 2025, a Thursday morning, when Farhad N. drove his car, a Mini, into a Verdi rally from behind without braking. The participants in the demonstration moved on Seidlstrasse towards Stiglmaierplatz. The attacker overtook the police vehicles that were following the demonstrators at walking speed and then stepped on the accelerator. So he raced straight into the crowd. As the investigators later calculated, after the collision with the first victim, he drove another 23 meters until the car came to a stop – not because Farhad N. had braked, but because the front wheels were hanging in the air because of the people lying under and in front of the car.
Amel S., an employee of the city of Munich, and her daughter Hafsa were hit head-on by the car in the attack, thrown around ten meters through the air and injured so badly that they died shortly afterwards in hospital. Amel S. was 37 years old and her daughter was two years old. 43 people were injured – some seriously or even life-threateningly – and another person only escaped without physical harm because they were able to jump out of the way at the last moment. In the images from the crime scene that were later shown in the news, one often saw the remains of the stroller in which Amel S. pushed her daughter in front of her at the rally.
Farhad N. remains silent in court
The first day of the trial is short. Since Farhad N. does not want to comment on the person or the matter, the reading of the indictment is the only substantive item on the agenda today. The representative of the Federal Prosecutor General, Senior Public Prosecutor David Rademacher, needed most of the time, more than a quarter of an hour, to list what happened to the 46 victims on that Thursday morning. For example, there is always talk of multiple bruises, hematomas and fractures of the ankle or jaw, as well as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders. Some people had to stay in hospital for weeks and undergo one or two operations. 17 of the victims or survivors appear as co-plaintiffs in the trial.
The defendant, with a short beard and an olive green jacket, seems to be following the trial rather sympathetically. Presumably a tic causes him to repeatedly jerk his head forward and squint his eyes. A few days ago he turned 25 years old. He spent part of his pre-trial detention in the psychiatric ward of the Straubing correctional facility because of abnormalities. However, an expert report confirms that N. is fully responsible.
The circumstances of his crime appear to have been clarified in great detail. What still remains in the room is the big question of why. The quick answer is: because Farhad N., who came to Germany as a minor refugee in 2016, was an Islamist. For a long time, the young man was not noticed in any way, not even as being particularly religious. His biggest passion was probably bodybuilding; he had a job as a security guard and an apartment.
Islamist radicalization since autumn 2024
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Farhad N. only became radicalized relatively shortly before the crime. The Sunni Muslim, the indictment says, developed “exaggerated religious ideas” starting in the fall of 2024, which were accompanied by the belief that the USA and other Western countries were responsible for the suffering of the Muslim population in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
The decisive impetus for radicalization was probably provided by Islamist Afghan clerics, whose sermons he watched on so-called social media. The consequence that N. felt he had to draw in his sudden religious zeal was to arbitrarily attack and kill as many people as possible in Germany. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the man was prepared to die for this. His willingness to commit the crime was also reinforced by “diffuse fears” and his personal life circumstances, which made him angry and disappointed.
The presiding judge has initially scheduled 38 days of hearings for the trial until the end of June.