He expresses no remorse, only hatred: Farhad Noori believes that Allah ordered the deadly attack in Munich. In prison, he refuses to see a doctor – ‘only Allah decides about me’. He refuses his food because it is ‘not halal’. He orders the prison staff to clean his cell – of Christians.
Who was Farhad Noori, the Munich attacker? Initially, the 24-year-old Afghan who drove a Mini Cooper into a Verdi rally last Thursday, killing two people and injuring 37, puzzled investigators. However, initial impressions gained by security circles from Noori’s statements during interrogations and his behaviour in Munich prison reveal a profile of a radical Muslim who shows no remorse and exhibits signs of religious madness. NIUS learnt this exclusively from Bavarian police circles who had an insight into his accommodation in Munich prison.
According to the report, Noori, who was allegedly born in Kabul on January 9, 2001, is said to have made several fundamentalist religious statements in dialogue with prison staff in recent days. For example, when a doctor came to examine Noori’s mental state, the bodybuilder is said to have repeated several times that ‘only Allah decides about him’. This was another reason why he refused to see a doctor. If he were to die, it would be ‘Allah’s decision’ – and he felt no fear because he would be resurrected and return to this world anyway.
After the crime, the lead prosecutor, Gabriele Tilmann, had already stated that she would ‘dare to speak of an Islamist motivation for the offence’. The 24-year-old, who is now accused of 39 counts of attempted murder by the federal prosecutor, is said to have prayed and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ after the crime. During questioning, Noori also gave insights into his motives, ‘which I would summarise as religious motivation’, according to Tilmann. Research by NIUS also came to the conclusion that Noori had repeatedly used Islamic symbols on social media, including the tauhid finger, Kaaba emojis or sermons that at least indicated an interest in pious Islamic content, in addition to pictures of poses in the gym or in branded clothing.
However, Noori’s behaviour in Munich prison can hardly be described as pious in the literal sense: According to police sources, the Afghan is said to have behaved ‘insolently’ at times – and showed no signs of remorse or scruples. When making contact with investigators on site, the Afghan is said to have repeatedly displayed ‘aggressive behaviour’ and a ‘loud, demanding tone’. Noori is also said to have repeatedly changed languages and started speaking in Urdu.
For example, when food was to be brought to him through the food hatch, an attempt at communication is said to have failed immediately, as Noori repeatedly interrupted staff members and interrupted them aggressively. Within a few days, the assassin is also said to have triggered the emergency call several times, although he had been made aware that this was only intended for emergencies. On one occasion, the Afghan is said to have instructed a guard to ‘throw away his rubbish immediately’, as this was ‘his will’.
But there is much more: Noori is also said to have explicitly asked prison staff to clean his cell ‘because the Jesuits housed before him had soiled everything’. According to police sources, it seems likely that by ‘Jesuits’ he meant Christians in the sense of the German majority society. When he was brought food to his detention room, he did not want to accept it ‘because it was not halal and would have been soiled by the prison’. Everything he really needed, he said, he got from Allah, ‘because Allah was sitting next to him when he prayed’. The offence of which the accused is accused was also ordered by Allah. The communication attempts present the impression of a radically religious and at the same time delusional perpetrator, according to the source.
This matches a digital ring that Noori is said to have carried with him last Thursday during the crime. The newspaper Die Welt reported exclusively on the item. Investigators are said to have puzzled over the significance of the digital ring, the report said, possibly because the gadget was intended to record the number of people hit or killed. According to NIUS information, however, it seems more likely that the analogue counter is a further indication of Noori’s Islamist world view. Devout Muslims in the Middle East are said to carry such Digital Rings with them to count their prayers to Allah. A New York Times article from 2022, for example, is entitled: ‘Some Muslims Are Using Digital Rings to Track Their Praises to God’. It seems likely that the mysterious Digital Ring was more an indication of Noori’s attachment to Allah than a kind of body counter.
The Afghan arrived in Germany in 2016. His asylum application was rejected, but due to the situation in Afghanistan, Noori could never be deported – and was therefore granted tolerated stay. In 2021, he was also granted a so-called ‘lane change’. This allows rejected asylum seekers who are considered to be well integrated to obtain a residence permit. The German magazine Der Spiegel revealed last weekend that he allegedly lied about his escape story. A judge at the administrative court in Munich came to the conclusion that Noori’s statements were ‘not credible’ as they seemed ‘lacking in detail and unrealistic’. There were also ‘inconsistencies’ in his statements. A serious threat in Afghanistan was therefore ‘unlikely’.