An Afghan has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of driving his car into a crowd of people in Munich last year, killing two people, claiming the lives of a two-year-old girl and her mother and leaving dozens of people injured.
The suspect, partially identified as Farhad N., went on trial in Germany on Friday, January 16th—accused of the deadly car-ramming attack in Munich. He faced two charges of murder and 44 charges of attempted murder. Prosecutors say the attack was carried out with a “religious motivation” and that the accused expected to die during the assault. On Thursday, August 6th he was convicted of two counts of murder, 23 counts of attempted murder, and a number of other charges including grievous bodily harm.
The incident occurred on February 13th, 2025, when the convict, who was 24 years old at the time, deliberately drove his Mini Cooper into a trade union street rally attended by approximately 1,400 people in Munich. According to the charge sheet, the vehicle continued for 23 metres before coming to a halt “because its front wheels lost contact with the ground due to people lying in front of and underneath the car.”
A 37-year-old woman and her young daughter were thrown approximately 10 metres through the air. Both suffered severe head injuries and died several days later as a result of the attack.
Prosecutors at the time stated that Farhad N., who was born in Kabul, acted out of what they described as “excessive religious motivation.” They also said that after the rampage he uttered the words “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is the greatest.”
According to prosecutors, the accused believed he was obliged to attack and kill randomly selected people in Germany in response to the suffering of Muslims in Islamic countries. In contrast, Farhad N’s defence team attempted unsuccessfully to have his crimes treated as being psychiatric in origin.
