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Woman dies after stabbing on German university campus

A 30-year-old woman has died from her injuries after an apparently random knife attack on students at a German university campus.

Woman dies after stabbing on German university campus
German police officers on patrol. Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP

A 30-year-old woman has died from her injuries after an apparently random knife attack on students at a German university campus, police and prosecutors said on Sunday.

The woman was an assistant professor who had been attending a conference at the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences when the incident happened on Friday.

Two other women and one man were injured before other students managed to restrain the attacker. A 34-year-old suspect was on Saturday transferred to psychiatric care after prosecutors said he was likely suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

The university said on Sunday it had learned of the death “with great sadness” in a statement posted on its website. “The act itself had already horrified us, but the fact that it has now torn such a valued colleague from our midst is inconceivable,” the statement said.

A memorial event is being prepared for Monday. The alleged attacker, a student at the university, had randomly targeted the victims with two kitchen knives, according to prosecutors.

A 22-year-old student suffered eight stab wounds to the stomach and needed emergency surgery, but her condition is not thought to be life threatening.

The other two victims, a 22-year-old man and another young woman of the same age, were less seriously injured.

The suspect had earlier on Friday discharged himself from a psychiatric hospital where he had been staying after a suicide attempt, prosecutors said.

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CRIME

How politically motivated crimes are rising in Germany

Crimes with political motivations have risen in Germany according to police data, with cases of right-wing extremism making up the majority of crimes reported last year.

How politically motivated crimes are rising in Germany

Germany’s Criminal Police Office (BKA) registered 60,028 politically motivated crimes in 2023, the highest number recorded since records of this statistic began in 2001.

That’s almost two percent more politically motivated crimes than were recorded the previous year. But of those, 3,561 cases involved violence, which is approximately 12 percent less compared to 2022.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) presented the statistics this week. “We are seeing a new high in crimes directed against our open and free society,” she said according to Tagesschau. “We must show unequivocally that the rule of law does not accept this violence.”

Majority of political crimes classified as right-wing extremism 

With a total of 28,945 crimes, right-wing extremist-motivated cases made up the largest portion of political crimes in 2023 – up 23 percent from the year before.

There were 714 people recorded as being injured by right-wing extremist violence.

The President of the BKA, Holger Münch has previously emphasised that right-wing extremism remains the greatest threat to free democratic basic order in Germany.  

Although significantly less were recorded, left-wing extremist attacks also increased last year to 7,777 reported incidents.

Religiously motivated crimes increased by the biggest percent

Crimes registered as religiously motivated increased by the biggest proportion, up 203 percent from the previous year according to the BKA figures – to a total of 1,458.

The number of cases related to a foreign ideology also rose.

Anti-Semitic crimes also reached a new high last year with 5,164 offences being recorded (148 of these being acts of violence).

Conflict in the Middle East has certainly had an effect on domestic crime as well, with 4,369 crimes recorded as being connected. That figure is 70 times higher than the previous year, with more than half of them recorded after Hamas’ attack on October 7th. Of those, 1,927 were considered anti-Semitic by the BKA.

Public servants and asylum-seekers face increasing risk

The number of crimes against politicians and political volunteers also increased by 29 percent last year.

In recent weeks, a worrisome spike in both right- and left-wing attacks on politicians has been observed across Germany.

READ ALSO: Why are German politicians facing increasing attacks?

In her comments, Interior Minister Faeser warned that “a climate of violence” is being brought, especially by right-wing fringe groups.

Also motivated by right-wing ideologies were an increase in the number of attacks on asylum-seekers and refugees. Last year saw a significant increase in these attacks including 321 violent acts and 179 crimes against asylum accommodations registered.

Crimes targeting the “state” fell last year by 28 percent compared with 2022.

READ ALSO: Why experts say Germany’s rising crime rate is misleading

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