German Court Hands Life Term to Afghan Over Anti-Islam Rally Attack

DID Press: A German court has sentenced an Afghan man to life imprisonment for killing a police officer and injuring five others in a knife attack at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim. The ruling comes amid heightened political debates over migration and security in the country.

On Tuesday, the court found Sulaiman A. guilty of murder and five counts of attempted murder for the May 2024 attack. Armed with a large hunting knife, he assaulted participants at a gathering organized by the far-right group Pax Europa. After stabbing a speaker and several demonstrators, he fatally wounded a police officer who intervened.

The defendant, who was seriously injured and hospitalized in intensive care following his arrest, was formally taken into custody in June 2024. Prosecutors said he had links to ISIS but was not tried on terrorism charges.

The verdict comes as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party gains popularity amid growing tensions over immigration. Recently, Berlin deported 81 Afghan nationals whose asylum claims had been rejected, stressing that no diplomatic relations exist with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities and that any contact was limited to technical arrangements for deportations.

The transfer of Afghan embassies in Berlin and Bonn to Taliban representatives and limited engagement with the group have drawn strong criticism from human rights organizations and opposition parties, including the Greens.

Meanwhile, Austria’s interior minister announced that Vienna has begun deporting Afghan offenders in coordination with the Taliban administration, vowing to enforce the policy firmly.