ASCHAFFENBURG: An Afghan man accused of a deadly knife attack on a group of toddlers in Germany went on trial on Thursday.
Germany was shocked by the stabbing spree that killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to protect the children.
Five toddlers from a kindergarten class were in a public park accompanied by two teachers when the assailant attacked them with a kitchen knife.
The suspect arrested at the scene of the January 22 attack has been partially named as 28-year-old Enamullah O.
He has a long history of mental illness and an expert assessment concluded his psychiatric state meant he was not criminally responsible.
The public prosecutor’s office said there was no indication the suspect acted out of extremist or terrorist motivation.
Prosecutors are seeking to have him permanently confined to a psychiatric facility.
The trial is expected to stretch over several days of proceedings in October.
The suspected attacker injured a two-year-old Syrian girl, one of the teachers, and a 72-year-old man who had also tried to protect the children.
Authorities had tried and failed in 2023 to deport him to Bulgaria, the first EU country he had arrived in.
In August 2024, he allegedly threatened a fellow resident at an accommodation for asylum seekers with a butcher’s knife.
The Aschaffenburg stabbings provoked intense political reactions in Germany.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats, promised a fundamental overhaul of asylum rules if elected.
Merz relied on support from the far-right Alternative for Germany to pass a resolution demanding stricter immigration policies.
His decision to rely on far-right support broke a longstanding taboo in post-World War II German politics.
The move prompted fierce criticism and mass street protests across the country. – AFP
