On Feb. 13 of this year, Afghan national Farhad Noori allegedly drove his Mini Cooper at 30 kilometers per hour into a Verdi union demonstration in Munich, killing a 37-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has charged Noori with two counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder due to the scores of others injured.
The Federal Prosecutor General (GBA) claims that Noori perpetrated the crime “out of an exaggerated religious motivation” and that he is fully responsible for his actions, based on a psychiatric evaluation.
JUST IN: Multiple injuries reported after a car plows through a Ver.di demonstration in Germany.
Ver.di is the service sector union in the country.
Police say the act was intentional. No word yet on a motive. pic.twitter.com/RBh8sZdvP1
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 13, 2025According to Bild, Noori will stand trial starting Jan. 16 before the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Munich.
If convicted, the Afghan faces life imprisonment, with no possibility of being placed in a psychiatric hospital.
However, Noori’s lawyer, Ömer Sahinci is contesting his liability, telling Bild that “the trial will focus on the question of his criminal responsibility.”
Shortly after the crime, the bodybuilder was placed in the psychiatric ward of Straubing Prison. However, an expert concluded that Noori was fully responsible for his actions, i.e., was not suffering from any psychological impairment and was thus, by court order, transferred to regular pretrial detention at Stadelheim Prison.
According to the defense, Noori is now “exhibiting signs of mental illness.”
“My client was only in Stadelheim for a few days. He has been back in the psychiatric ward in Straubing for several months now because he is exhibiting signs of mental illness. The Federal Prosecutor General has refused to provide a statement from the treating physicians in Straubing,” stated Defense attorney Sahinci.
Despite the current assumption of the Noori’s sanity and that he was fully responsible for his actions, the relevant authority has refused to speculate on the accused’s current state.
“The question of the accused’s placement within a prison, as well as questions regarding possible psychiatric treatment, touch upon both the core area of the accused’s right to privacy and security concerns within the prison system. I therefore ask for your understanding that no information can be provided on this matter,” Bettina Kaestner, spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court of Munich, said.
