A Saudi doctor in Germany, critical of Islam and supporting the far-right AfD, is under investigation. Authorities received tipoffs last year. He remains in custody.
ADVERTISEMENTA Saudi national was charged with murder and attempted murder on Sunday over the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, German media have reported.
Authorities have identified the man as a doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and was granted permanent residency.
Police haven’t publicly named the suspect, per Germany’s privacy laws. However, domestic news outlets have identified him as Taleb A and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
German authorities said they received tipoffs last year about the suspect.
Authorities say he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and, in many posts on social media, expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
He remains in custody as authorities investigate him.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said in an interview on the German broadcaster ZDF on Saturday that his office received a tipoff from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, which led authorities to launch “appropriate investigative measures”.
“The man also published a huge number of posts on the internet. He also had contact with various authorities, made insults and even threats. However, he was not known to have committed acts of violence,” said Münch.
He said that the warnings, however, proved to be very unspecific.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also said Sunday on X that it received a tipoff about the suspect in the late summer of last year.
“This was taken seriously, like every other (among) numerous tips,” the office said. However, it was also noted that it is not an investigative authority and that it referred the information to the responsible authorities. It gave no other details.