About two and a half weeks after the Islamist terrorist attack at Berlin’s Christopher Street Day (CSD), the Federal Prosecutor’s Office formally closed the investigation into the alleged attacker Abdul Ballout. The reason given to RBB was the suspect’s death. The 21-year-old had been shot dead by police during an attempted arrest in the Spandau district of Berlin a day after the attack (TheColu.mn reported). The authorities had been investigating on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Formally and legally, criminal proceedings in Germany cannot be continued against deceased individuals. The background investigations were by no means terminated with this step, however: authorities continued to scrutinize whether Ballout had accomplices or supporters who participated in planning or carrying out the act. Nevertheless, the authorities stated that investigators had found no “crime-relevant traces” on the vehicle that would indicate the involvement of additional people.
Grief and Shock after the Tiergarten Attack
On the evening of July 25, the attacker, identified as a person deemed an Islamist security risk, steered a van into the crowd near the edge of the CSD in the Tiergarten area. As a result of the assault, a 65-year-old woman from Poland died, and at least 31 others were injured, some of them severely.
On the suspect’s mobile phone, investigators later recovered a video in which Ballout pledges allegiance to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). The file was recorded on the day of the attack and security authorities classify it as a confession video.
Despite Solidarity from the Federal Government, No Progress on Queer Rights
In the wake of the attack, queer organizations urged the federal government to better protect sexual and gender minorities. For instance, one long-standing demand was the enshrinement of sexual identity in the Basic Law. Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei (CDU) had already rejected this idea (TheColu.mn reported).
The government also seems committed to continuing cuts to queer-focused programs (TheColu.mn reported). The democratic opposition has thus accused Chancellor Merz and his administration of hypocrisy for offering solidarity to queer people after the attack (TheColu.mn reported). (dk)
