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Axe man in Düsseldorf attack committed to psychiatric ward

A German court on Friday committed to a psychiatric ward a 37-year-old Kosovo man diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic who wounded nine people in an axe rampage.

Published: 22 September 2017 16:59 CEST

Axe man in Düsseldorf attack committed to psychiatric ward

Fatmir H. Photo: DPA.

Four victims suffered severe injuries, among them a 13-year-old girl, in the bloody attack in March in the railway station of the western city of Düsseldorf.

The assault had sparked fears of a jihadist attack after December's truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead.

Police commandos with automatic weapons, body armour and balaclavas rushed to the station, backed by police helicopters.

The axe man, identified only as Fatmir H., ran away from police and was badly injured himself when he jumped off a four-metre bridge.

The mentally ill attacker, with a history of high anxiety and self-harm, had “heard voices” and hoped to be shot dead by police, the court was told.

The court's ruling that the man could not be found legally culpable was in line with the demands of prosecutors, the defence and co-plaintiffs.

The other victims were two female Italian tourists and another woman and five male commuters, all aged between 30 and 50.

Fatmir H. had come to Germany in 2009 and received residency rights “for humanitarian reasons”.

Berlin's former mayor hurt amid spate of attacks on German politicians

Giffey, who is currently Berlin’s senator for economic affairs, was assaulted at a library in the district of Rudow on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Wednesday.

The suspect attacked Giffey “from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck”, police said in a statement.

Giffey, who is a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), was briefly treated in hospital for “head and neck pain”, said police.

She said she was “feeling well after the initial scare” but was “concerned and shaken about a growing ‘free wild culture’ in which people who are engaging politically in our country are increasingly exposed to attacks that are supposedly justified and acceptable”.

“We live in a free and democratic country, in which everyone can be free to express his or her opinions,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“But there is a clear line – and that is violence against people,” she wrote, stressing that such attacks amount to a red line.

Berlin’s current mayor Kai Wegner condemned the assault on Giffey, saying anyone who attacks politicians are “attacking our democracy”.

“We will not tolerate this,” he said, vowing to examine “tougher sentences for attacks against politicians”.

It comes amid a spate of attacks on politicians in the run up to the European elections next month.

Less than three hours later in the eastern city of Dresden, there was another attack on a Green Party politician while the conference of interior ministers was meeting at the same time.

Police said the victim was a 47-year-old woman who was threatened and spat on.

The politician was putting up campaign posters for the European elections when a man came up, pushed her to the side and tore down two posters.

The man insulted and threatened the politician, while a woman joined in and spat on the victim, police said.

Both suspects were arrested, police said, identifying them as a 34-year-old German man and a 24-year-old woman.

S-Bahn in Dresden

A train drives through Dresden, which has seen two attacks on politicians recently. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Robert Michael

Both were in a group who were standing at the area and who had begun making the banned Hitler salute when the politician began hanging up posters.

The suspects were arrested, police said, identifying them as a 34-year-old German man and a 24-year-old woman.

Last Friday, a European parliament lawmaker, also of the SPD, was seriously injured by four attackers last week as he put up EU election posters – also in Dresden.

Matthias Ecke, 41, needed an operation for serious injuries sustained in the attack, which was denounced by Scholz as a threat to democracy.

READ ALSO: Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

Four suspects, aged between 17 and 18, are being investigated over the attack.

All four are believed to have links to the far-right group known as “Elblandrevolte”, according to German media.

The incidents have sparked a debate in Germany over the safety of politicians and how best to deal with the violence.

Berlin interior senator Iris Spranger (SPD), said on X: “I strongly condemn the attack on Franziska Giffey and on other politicians and election workers, all of whom are committed to a democratic debate.”

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but fewer than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

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