In the Hamburg trial of a planned Islamist terrorist attack on the 20th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11, the federal prosecutor has demanded seven years in prison for the defendant. The 21-year-old German-Moroccan was guilty of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, senior public prosecutor Simon Henrichs told the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court on Tuesday. The defendant had also violated the War Weapons Control Act by purchasing a hand grenade and a firearm, he said. “The taking of evidence fully confirmed the indictment,” Henrichs said. The defendant’s arrest prevented an imminent attack with numerous deaths and injuries, he said.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the defendant intended to build an explosive device similar to the one used in the attack on the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. For this purpose, he had bought large quantities of chemicals as well as several hundred screws and nuts. While purchasing a Makarov pistol with 50 rounds of ammunition and a hand grenade, he had approached an undercover police officer. During the agreed handover of the weapons on August 26, 2021, in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Hamburg-Stellingen, the young man had been arrested by special forces.